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Sarah Twidwell

No. 1 Seed Leathernecks Ready for Summit League Championships

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Western Illinois opens postseason play against No. 4 Omaha on Thursday (Nov. 14) at 2 p.m.

GAME NINETEEN  

Who | No. 1 Western Illinois vs. No. 4 Omaha
When | Thursday (Nov. 14) at 2 p.m. CT. 
Where | Ciber Field - Denver, Colo. 
Watch | Here
Live Stats | Here 
Social Media | Twitter #TRADITIONofTOUGH

Kick-Off | The No. 1 seed Western Illinois begins the The Summit League Championships presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare against the No. 4 Omaha Mavericks Thursday (Nov. 14) at 2 p.m. CT.  

Last Time Out | Western Illinois earned the dramatic 2-1 victory over the No. 20/24 Golden Eagles on Saturday (Nov. 9) night for the program's fifth regular-season title, and the third time the Leathernecks have earned a share of it. WIU defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since 2008 versus #17 Bradley. 

The battle for the No. 1 seed in postseason play remained scoreless until the 83rd minute. On a corner, Paul Kirdorf soared the ball to Kyle Owen, who headed it down, finding the feet of a diving Daisuke Otsuka for the 1-0 lead. 

Holding on to the advantage, Ryan DeBois found the back of the net for the eighth time this season. Goalkeeper Tim Trilk earned his first career assist as he launched the ball that was flicked on by Gimale Essacu to DeBois, who buried his shot into the far corner. 

Oral Roberts added to the wild finish on a goal in the 90th minute.

National Attention | To say Tim Trilk is a wall between the pipes is an understatement. Throughout the whole season, the senior has been in the top 10 of NCAA D1 saves, including being tied for first on Sept. 9. 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 (4639:48), eighth in career saves (194), tied sixth in shutouts (8), and ninth in wins (14).

Start Wearing Purple and Gold | So far into the 2019 campaign, WIU has totaled nine goals from newcomers. Daniel McIntosh (1), Daisuke Otsuka (4), Kyle Owen (2), and Enric Ferrer (2) 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 eight, Daisuke Otsuka has notched four, followed by Enric Ferrer, Paul Kirdorf, Mitchell Moynihan and Kyle Owen who all have two. Luke Duball, Cesar Cosio, and Daniel McIntosh, and all have one. 

Helping Foot | Ten different players have been credited in the assists of Western's 23 total goals. Caleb Ragland and Gimale Essacu lead the pack with three. Luke Duball, Enric Ferrer, and Paul Kirdorf 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 got 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 team, 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 Mavericks | Omaha was the lone team that the Leathernecks lost to. The Mavs concluded Summit League play with a tie at Eastern (0-0) along with losses to Denver (0-2) and Oral Roberts (0-3). The program has earned a postseason bid five out of five times since becoming eligible for Division 1 postseason play. 

Up Next | If the Purple and Gold win, they will face the winner of the No. 2 Oral Roberts and No. 3 Denver match in the final to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday (Nov. 16) at 3 p.m.
 

 
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