HAMMOND, Ind. – The Purdue Northwest men's soccer team defeated regionally-ranked Saginaw Valley State University 3-0 Friday at Dowling Park. It was the Pride's fourth consecutive home victory this season.
With the win, PNW improved to 4-4-0 overall and moved into a third-place tie with SVSU in the GLIAC standings at 3-2-0 in conference play. It was the first win in the all-time series with SVSU, which dropped to 6-3-0 overall on the year. The Cardinals entered the match ranked seventh in the Division II Midwest Region rankings and had only surrendered five goals.
Before Friday's triumph, the Pride had totaled just three goals combined in the previous five meetings with the reigning conference regular season champion Cardinals.
Ryan Moran scored the game-winner in the 25th minute for his third goal of the season.
Harrison Hooper (74') and
Benjamin Barrette (89') each logged their first career goals in a Pride uniform. Hooper,
Alexander Oehrlein and
Christian Booth each recorded their first career assist. Oehrlein had two assists in the win.
Goalkeeper
Sebastian Contreras earned his third career shutout and second of the season. He posted three saves including a highlight-reel save on a penalty attempt which preserved a 1-0 lead in the 67th minute. The junior improved to 4-2 between the pipes – thanks in large part to the strong organized team play on defense. Hooper,
Martin Murillo,
Ismael Contreras,
Daniel Rohder and
Ariel Navarro all played the full 90 minutes to help lead the way.
PNW out-shot the visitors 9-7 in the contest, including a slight 4-3 edge in shots on target. The Cardinals only had three overall shot attempts in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Pride will have a quick turnaround as they prepare to host Northwood (1-7-1, 0-4-1 GLIAC) on Sunday. The Timberwolves have dropped three straight after Friday's 3-0 setback to Davenport.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest men's soccer, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
