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Men's soccer senior poster
Sarah Twidwell

Senior Day Implications

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Western Illinois men’s soccer host Eastern Illinois on Saturday (Oct. 26) at 1 p.m.

GAME Fifteen 

Who | Western Illinois vs. Eastern Illinois  
When | Saturday (Oct. 26) at 1 p.m. 
Where | John MacKenzie Alumni Field - Macomb, Ill. 
Watch | Here
Live Stats | Here
Social Media | Twitter #TRADITIONofTOUGH

Kick-Off | It's simple for the Western Illinois men's soccer team, you win and you're in The Summit League Tournament if you beat Eastern Illinois on Saturday (Oct. 26).

Senior Send-Off | For Gimale Essacu, Thomas Hollis, Christian Junna, and Tim Trilk each will be honored after Saturday's match at John MacKenzie Alumni Field. 

Last Time Out | A big three points were earned by the Western Illinois men's soccer team (3-11-0, 2-1-0) in a 2-0 shutout of Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday (Oct. 19) night on the road. 
 
Back-to-back shutouts gave the Leathernecks their third straight victory. WIU turned on the offensive push in the second set of 45 to record season-highs in shots (22) and shots on goal (11). 
 
A little over five minutes into the second half, the Leathernecks took a 1-0 lead. Daisuke Otsuka flicked a ball that bounced into the box, and Enric Ferrer (51') buried it into the corner for his second goal of the season. 
 
Ryan DeBois once again found the back of the net in the 78th minute. The forward add some insurance after he danced in the PFW box and notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season. DeBois has now scored in three straight games, and each Summit League match. 
 
Seanan Main replaced Tim Trilk midway through the second half as the senior finished with two saves. Main stopped a Mastodon shot in the 87th minute to preserve and combine for the clean sheet. 
 
National Attention | To say Tim Trilk is a wall between the pipes is an understatement. As of Oct. 21, he was tied for 5th in all D1 and second in the Summit League with 66 total saves. He set a career-high 13 at UIC, which tied Chris Frenz (Oct. 25, 2002 vs. IUPUI) for third in saves in a game. He owns the program marks for fourth in minutes in goal (4259:48), eighth in career saves (181), tied seventh in shutouts (8), tied tenth in wins (11).

Start Wearing Purple and Gold | So far into the 2019 campaign, WIU has totaled six goals from newcomers. Daniel McIntosh, Daisuke Otsuka, Kyle Owen, and Enric Ferrer have all found the back of the net for the first time as a Leatherneck.

Nine Wonders of the Pitch | Nine different Leathernecks have found the back net with Ryan DeBois as the team leader with five, followed by Enric Ferrer, Mitchell Moynihan and Daisuke Otsuka who have two. Luke Duball, Cesar Cosio, Paul Kirdorf, Daniel McIntosh, and Kyle Owen all have one. 

Helping Foot | Eight different players have been credited in the assists of Western's 16 total goals. Luke Duball, Enric Ferrer, Paul Kirdorf, and Caleb Ragland all are deadlocked with two. 

National Team | Every soccer player across the world dreams of representing their home country at the international level. And for current Western Illinois men's soccer student-athlete Gimale Essacu, he will get that honor once again. 

Essacu was selected to the Papua New Guinea U-23 squad by head coach Percy Mataio earlier this September. A member of the 20-man squad, he will compete in the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Fiji for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics from Sept. 21-Oct. 5. The Leatherneck also suited up for his home country in an Olympic Qualifier in 2015 that advanced to the semifinals. 

All Eyes On 5 | Heading into his junior season Paul Kirdorf was tabbed a Player to Watch for the 2019 season. The historic 4-3 win for the Western Illinois men's soccer team over Denver was lead by Kirdorf, who tallied two assists to be named Summit League Offensive Player of the Week, the league announced Monday (Oct. 14). 

The honor marks the first time Kirdorf has earned the weekly recognition as Western Illinois defeated the Pioneers for the first time in program history. 

Leatherneck Sweep | Back-to-back shutout victories fueled both from Ryan DeBois (Offensive) and Tim Trilk (Defensive) earned the Western Illinois men's soccer team to sweep The Summit League Player of the Week Awards, the league announced Monday (Oct. 21).

The last time the Leathernecks swept the honors was in 2016 by Tim Hansen and Armel Kouassi.

Scouting the Panthers | Eastern Illinois enters the weekend contest with a 4-7-2 mark. Similar to WIU, nine different players have scored for the Panthers with Shady Omar leading the way with three. Jonathan Burke sits third in the Summit League with 58 saves in net. 

Up Next | WIU travels to IUPUI for a mid-week matchup against the Jaguars on Wednesday (Oct. 30) at 6 p.m.  
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