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Western Illinois University Athletics

Diego Lopez
1
IUPUI IUPUI (1-9-6 (1-2-2))
2
Winner Western Illinois WIU (6-10-1 (3-3))
IUPUI IUPUI
(1-9-6 (1-2-2))
1
Final
2
Western Illinois WIU
(6-10-1 (3-3))
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
IUPUI IUPUI 1 0 1
Western Illinois WIU 2 0 2

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | WIU Athletic Communications

Men's Soccer Closes Out Regular Season with 2-1 Senior Day Victory Over IUPUI

Six seniors honored as Leathernecks push past Jaguars

MACOMB, Ill. – Six seniors were honored for their dedication to the Western Illinois men's soccer program on Sunday, November 1, as the Leathernecks played host to IUPUI on Senior Day. A pair of first half goals propelled the Leathernecks past the Jaguars in the regular season finale for the Purple and Gold. The Leathernecks end the regular season with a 6-10-1 record, including a mark of 3-3 in Summit League play.
 
Western Illinois finished the Summit League schedule with nine points (three victories), and currently sits in a tie for second place in the league standings. The Leathernecks must await the conclusion of Summit League play before knowing their postseason fate. The top four teams in the league standings advance to The Summit League Tournament, held November 12-14 in Denver, Colorado.
 
Summit League play concludes next weekend with a pair of matches with tournament implications for the Leathernecks. On November 7, Eastern Illinois will play host to Omaha while Denver travels to Fort Wayne. Western will earn a berth in the tournament with a loss or draw by either Omaha or Fort Wayne.
 
Seniors Kyle Walton, Tyler Chavez, Erick Bloom, Ken Tryggestad, Austin Gochneaur, and Sammuel Worlsey were recognized prior to the start of the match.
 
"We grinded it out today. We had a great first half and then our legs gave out," said head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. "The field was just impossible. Guys wore down because the field was so heavy and it just drained us. I thought we were great in the first half, but if we could have gotten the third one it would have made it a lot easier on everybody. But we scored two nice goals in the first half and then had a moments lapse and IUPUI took advantage of it."
 
The Leathernecks dominated the match early on and appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, but Fernando Pacheco's shot hit the crossbar and the game remained scoreless. Western's persistence paid off in the 17th minute when Diego Lopez put the Purple and Gold on the board. Amadeo Carbo found the ball at his foot at midfield and fed a through ball to Lopez. A big first touch put Lopez in the box, and the junior beat the keeper to the far post to give Western the advantage. It was Lopez's second goal of the season.
 
Western kept attacking and had a pair of chances to score seconds apart in the 21st minute. Following a WIU corner kick, Bloom got his head on the ball in the box, but the shot was blocked. Gochneaur picked up the loose ball and ripped a shot, but his touch sailed just high.
 
The WIU lead grew to two in the 24th minute, as Drew Whalen netted his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Johnson fed a cross into the box and Whalen connected on a header to push Western ahead by a 2-0 margin. Whalen's 10 goals this year rank tied for 10th nationally.
 
IUPUI answered with a goal in the 39th minute, and Western would take a 2-1 lead into halftime. The opening 45 minutes were dominated statistically by the Leathernecks, as the team outshot IUPUI 12-5 and owned a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.
 
The Jaguars were forced to play a man down for the final 36:20 of the game, after IUPUI's Jacob Singer recorded a pair of yellow cards in the span of 1:18. Despite having the man advantage, the Leathernecks turned their efforts to the defensive end, and held onto the one goal lead en route to the team's sixth victory of the season.
 
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