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2
Winner Western Ill. WIU (5-3-1, 0-0-0)
1
IU Indy IND (3-4-1, 0-2-0)
Winner
Western Ill. WIU
(5-3-1, 0-0-0)
2
Final
1
IU Indy IND
(3-4-1, 0-2-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Ill. WIU 2 0 2
IU Indy IND 0 1 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | WIU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Leathernecks Defeat IU Indianapolis On Road For Third Straight Victory

Western Illinois finished off the non-conference portion of the schedule with five victories, the most in non-conference play since 2016.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Western Illinois University Men's Soccer is on an absolute tear, as they entered a Tuesday night matchup with the IU Indianapolis Jaguars having won four of their last five matches. The Leathernecks continued the hot streak with a convincing 2-1 victory over IU Indy, their third consecutive win. 

Jimmy Baars, who was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week earlier on Tuesday, gave the Leathernecks their first chance of the match as he found open space and attempted a shot from 25 yards out that was calmly saved. 

Leatherneck starting keeper Alexis Michaud, who earned OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honors for his effort against NIU, kept a clean sheet in the first half with two saves, including one in the fifth minute to keep the Jaguars off the board early. 

In the tenth minute, left-back Leevi Swearengen made a great run off the touchline, off of an incredible deep pass from Joel McIntyre. Swearengen cut inside and then fired a shot, but the Jaguar keeper made a great save to knock it out for a corner. WIU had two straight corner kicks but did not capitalize on the attempts. 

Baars had another great attempt in the 20th minute but his attempt was also saved as the nil-nil score held. 

The Leathernecks made four subs in the 31st, bringing on Benjamin Graham at right back, and swapping out the whole front three, as Liam Gainey, Tyler Philpott, and Diego Porras all entered. They immediately injected some life into the Leatherneck offense, as WIU scored a pair of goals in 57 seconds. 

"Liam and Diego changed the game," said Leatherneck head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. "They came in and were ready to go, and were immediately aggressive." The first goal was courtesy of Porras, who jumped on a clearance attempt in the box and knocked it in to make it 1-0. The second came off of a great deep through ball from Graham, as he sent one up to Gainey who knocked it in to make it two-nothing, which held until the halftime whistle. 

In the second, Micah Ramirez swapped for Michaud in between the sticks. Western started things off in the second half with a couple of chances, as Tyler Philpott fired a shot that was saved out for a corner, but WIU didn't add a third goal on the try. 

The Western Illinois defense held strong through the first 31 minutes of the second half before the Jaguars got one back, making things interesting late. They nearly equalized in the 84th but a heroic save from Ramirez kept the Leathernecks in front until the final whistle. 

Moving to 5-3-1 on the year, Dr. Eric Johnson has his Leathernecks off to their best start through nine games since 2008, when they started the season with six consecutive victories. The last time Western won three games in a row was back in 2019, when the Leathernecks took home a share of the Summit League title, and the last time WIU won five of six was 2016.

Western Illinois looks to take this positive energy into the start of OVC play, as they have three road games to start the new conference. They'll kick things off in Lynchburg, Virginia on Saturday at 6 P.M., taking on Liberty. 

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