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Larry Dean

Men's Soccer Welcomes Green Bay and Bowling Green

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Leathernecks look to rebound with two games over the weekend.

MACOMB, Ill. — Western Illinois men's soccer continues its homestand by welcoming in Green Bay Friday, Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. and Bowling Green at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sep. 2.

LAST TIME OUT: 
The Western Illinois men's soccer team fell 4-0 to the Milwaukee Panthers on Sunday (Aug. 26).
 
Both teams were aggressive in the first half, but the Leathernecks were not able to produce a shot in the first half. On a free kick in the 44th minute, Vuk Latinovich placed the ball in the right corner of the net as the Panthers took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
 
Western Illinois had a couple of chances early in the second half. In the 49th minute, Paul Kirdorf sent a corner kick to Michael Howell for a header that was corralled by the Milwaukee goalkeeper. Two minutes later, Daniel Kadima had a shot blocked off another corner kick from Kirdorf.  
 
The Panthers doubled their advantage in the 68th minute when Alex Sykes stole the ball from Leatherneck keeper Tim Trilk and shot it over his head into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Milwaukee took advantage of a yellow card in the 81st minute and Josh Kaye connected the back of the net in the right corner past a diving Trilk. Four minutes later, Sean Holmes scored on an assist from Sykes to cap off the scoring as the Panthers won the match 4-0.  
 
COACH JOHNSON'S THOUGHTS: 
"We need to rebound from our poor showing last Sunday," Director of Soccer Dr. Eric Johnson said. "A couple of miscues put us in a bad spot, so we need to be better in decision making."

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX: 
Green Bay was picked to finish second in the Horizon League this season and currently sits at 1-0-1 overall after defeating Northern Illinois 3-2 on Monday, Aug. 27. The Phoenix finished 9-5-3 in 2017 and lost to UIC in the Horizon League Tournament championship match. Western lost 4-3 at Green Bay in the second match of the 2017 campaign.

Kris Kelderman enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Phoenix and is the reigning Horizon League Coach of the Year. Green Bay has spread out their scoring production so far this year with goals from Abrahm Hill, Tomer Zloczower, Bernard Assibeyrhule and Karim Lauba.  
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS: 
Bowling Green is also searching for its first win of the season after falling to Northern Kentucky 3-2 in the season opener (Aug. 25) and losing another close contest 1-0 at Penn State (Aug. 28). Before heading to Macomb, the Falcons play host to Wright State on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. The Leathernecks lost 2-0 on the road to Bowling Green last season.

Eric Nichols is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Falcons and owns a 69-77-25 record at the helm. Forward Chris Brennan is the returning leader with five goals and 14 points during the 2017 season.  
 
LOOKING AHEAD: 
The Leathernecks stay in Macomb for a home match against Dayton on Saturday, Sep. 8 at 1 p.m. 
 
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