The Dordt University men's soccer team earned a 3-1 victory against Morningside in a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) quarterfinal match played tonight on the Defenders soccer complex.
This was the first postseason win for the Defenders since the 2014 season and propels them into the GPAC semifinals where they will play No.2 seed Concordia on Tuesday (time TBA), Nov. 8 in Seward, Neb. Dordt will be playing in their fifth overall conference semifinals.
"I'm really proud of our team tonight," commented Head Coach Ryan Gresse. "Our players stuck with the game plan and were very resilient after being down one goal in the first half. Every player made a positive contribution to our team's success and we are greatful for the opportunity to play again next week."
The Defenders scored three unanswered goals over the final 60 minutes after Morningside netted the first goal of the match by Yannik Vogel at the 28th minute.
Marco Laenen netted the first of his two goals when he received a pass from
Nathan Wanninger near midfield, used a couple of touches to beat his defender and drove a shot past the Morningside goalie Bjarne Huth at the near post at the 34th minute. The game was tied 1-1 at the half.
Still tied 1-1 with 20 minutes gone in the second half,
Javier Moscardo put the Defenders ahead for good when he scored on a cross kicked by
Asher Brown and touched by
Tyson Reitsma in front of the Morningside goal. Dordt picked up a huge insurance goal during the 79th minute when Laenen scored his second goal off a great pass by
Blake Hansen.
Dordt's defense, led by goal keeper
Brandon Hansen, made sure the two-goal lead held up as Hansen made a couple of key saves during the final minutes.
By the Numbers...
- both teams totaled nine shots on-goal
- Laenen recorded his first multi-goal match of the season; he has three goals scored this season
- Moscardo led the Defenders with three shots on net; he moved into second place on the team with his fourth goal of the season
- Laenen and Phil Appelt both totaled two shots on goal
- Blake Hansen's assist was his fourth of the season; the junior leads Dordt with 32 points
- Brandon Hansen earned his fifth win of the season (5-2-2); Hansen made eight saves
- Huth made six saves for Morningside
