Yellowjackets 7, Finlandia 0
The Yellowjacket men's soccer team closed the book on the 2011 season on Wednesday in grand fashion, easily dispatching the Lions of Finlandia University by a 7-0 score at McAfee Field in Hancock, Mich. As impressive a win as it was, the even more impressive part of the victory came in the way that the senior class stepped up and led the charge, scoring five of the seven goals on the heels of Saturday's gut-wrenching defeat at UW-Oshkosh.
Eric Nilsen (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) (Duluth, Minn.) and Thomas Shuldheisz (Andover, Minn./Andover) (Andover, Minn.) had two goals apiece, while Dan Warnke (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) (Burnsville, Minn.) had a goal and two assists. Logan George (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) (Ramsey, Minn.) had a goal as all four seniors stayed on the field for the entire match.
Nilsen opened the scoring with an unassisted goal just 4:27 into the match to make it 1-0 on the first shot of the game. Nilsen stretched the lead to 2-0 at 22:03 when he took a feed from Warnke and put it home for his team-high eighth goal of the season. Just over ten minutes later Warnke would set up Shuldheisz for his first goal of the match to make it 3-0. Shuldheisz would add his second goal of the match at 40:53 of the first half on an assist from Mike Sorensen (Duluth, Minn./East) (Duluth, Minn.) to make it a 4-0 score at the break.
In the second half would stay that way for over 20 minutes until Matt Kelley (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) (Maple Grove, Minn.) made it a 5-0 match, scoring on a corner kick for his first goal of the season at 67:39. George scored an unassisted goal in the 79th minute, his sixth of the season to make it 6-0. Warnke would close out the scoring at 85:30, making it 7-0. Thomas Pazo Turinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) got the assist, his first point of the season.
The Yellowjackets outshot the Lions 17-0 in the match, and had ten other attempted shots that were not on goal. Miguel Gamez had ten saves for Finlandia, while Nick Osborn (Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount) (Rosemount, Minn.) got the shutout without making a save. Osborn finished the season with a 4-0 record, with all four victories coming via the shutout.
The Yellowjackets close the 2011 season with a 12-6-2 overall record and a 4-4 mark in WIAC play.
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