Western Illinois men's soccer played on Saturday (Oct. 15), defeating the Lindenwood Lions 3-2 in a back-and-forth contest at John MacKenzie Alumni Field. The victory keeps Western's postseason hopes alive with five games remaining in the regular season.
"It's a great result for us," head coach Dr. Eric Johnson said. "We gave up goals that we can't give up but then came back and got one late. To overcome a penalty kick and the goals, I mean we overcame quite a bit. A really good effort by the team today."
Jaylen Drummond and Caleb Ragland returned to the starting eleven as the Lions broke things open early, scoring eight minutes into the game after a corner kick and scramble in the box. Despite the early disadvantage, Western responded just 17 minutes later thanks to Jack Immesoete. Off a long ball over the top from deep in the WIU midfield from Muazu Sagir, Immesoete was in for a one-on-one on the far side of the box. The senior midfielder then fired high and away from the goalkeeper, with his far-post finish leveling things in the 25th minute.
Soon after finding the equalizer, Lindenwood drew a penalty, going down on the edge of the box and creating an opportunity to take back the lead. However, goalkeeper Alex Flowers was up to the task, sprawling out to his left and parrying the ball out of bounds to keep the game level at one.
"Before the game I asked our goalkeeper coach Meddy Mezouani to look at the scouting report and do some penalty kick research. We saw the guy who stepped up took two out of three to his right so I was assuming he would go to the right," Flowers said. "Obviously adrenaline was rushing through my head and a lot was going on but I knew after the save I had to focus on getting my team organized for the corner and preventing them from scoring on the next play.
"We were just hoping he could make the save. He did his homework on the penalty kick taker and read it really well," Coach Johnson added. "That got us right back into it emotionally. Just like the goal to level the game was huge for us, that save brought us back into the game as well. A big play by Alex."
Flowers' penalty kick save immediately shifted the momentum, with Western going on to score three minutes later. Off a feed from Jaylen Drummond, Kyle Owen sent a shot from the edge of the box low and hard past the Lindenwood goalkeeper for the team's second of the day, taking a one-goal advantage with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. The goal was Owen's second in as many games, having scored last Saturday against Eastern Illinois, and Western took its 2-1 advantage into halftime.
The early part of the second half was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams combining for eight shots in the first 20 minutes of the period. Lindenwood did find a breakthrough, however, leveling the game in the 75th minute on a shot from distance. After that goal was conceded, Flowers had one message to his team that could be heard echoing throughout John MacKenzie Alumni Field: "let's believe." And believe they did.
With just three minutes and 14 seconds remaining on the clock, Western's belief paid off by way of Damian Rincon. Rincon gathered the ball just outside the 18-yard box and fired a shot that was deflected, floating over the Lions' goalkeeper and into the back of the net to take back the lead. Western's defense was then tasked with holding that lead as the final seconds ticked off, a job that was completed when the final horn sounded and Western Illinois held a 3-2 advantage.
Owen led all players with four shots (two on goal), scoring his second goal of the season while also being credited with his first assist of the year on Rincon's goal. Jaylen Drummond, Abdul Hypolite and Rincon also recorded multiple attempts on goal as the Leathernecks finished the game with 16 shots – five of which were on goal. Western took three corner kicks and drew 23 Lion fouls, while Flowers made a season-high eight saves.
"I thought today was a team effort, everyone did their job. We had better performances from a larger group of people and that's how you win - when everyone comes and does what they need to do," Coach Johnson said. "Other than the restarts I thought we limited their chances too… they did get a bunch of service off restarts and fouls but we defended most of them so it was a good result."
The result moved Western up in the standings, now sitting at 1-1-2 in Summit League action and keeping the team's hope of postseason play alive with five games remaining in the season.
Western Illinois men's soccer returns to John MacKenzie Alumni Field on Tuesday (Oct. 18), hosting Detroit Mercy. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up