Yellowjackets 4, Northwestern 2

ST. PAUL, Minn.: The Yellowjacket men's soccer team is in the midst of a special season in 2018, and entering Tuesday's match at Northwestern, it had the chance to inch itself closer to securing the program's first-ever Upper Midwest Athletic Conference regular season title.

And inch closer the Yellowjackets did.

The Yellowjackets got one goal in the first half before blowing the match open in the second half on the way to a 4-2 win over Northwestern in St. Paul, Minnesota Tuesday. The win stretched the Yellowjacket winning streak to nine matches, and they are now unbeaten in their last 14 (13-0-1). The Yellowjackets currently have an eight-point lead in the U.M.A.C. standings with three matches to play and have a chance to clinch the conference title when they play at home Saturday.

In the first half the Yellowjackets had a hefty territorial advantage, but little to show for it as time ticked down. Neither team had a shot on goal when the clock ticked under five minutes to play, but that changed when the Yellowjackets not only put one on goal, but also opened the scoring. Senior Aaron Blanchard (Omaha, Neb./Millard North), who has taken his play at both ends of the pitch to a new level in recent weeks, finished off a play started by reigning U.M.A.C. Player of the Week Leonardo Paredes (Uberlandia, Brazil/Colegio Sao Paschoall) to give the Yellowjackets the 1-0 lead with 2:03 to play in the half. It was the second goal of the year for Blanchard.

The Yellowjackets stretched hte lead early in the second half. With just 3:16 elapsed team-scoring leader James Bruce (Gladstone, Mich./Gladstone) did what he's done all year, scoring his 12th goal of the season to make it 2-0.

Northwestern answered with a goal in the 58th minute to cut the Yellowjacket lead to one, but less than two minutes later the Yellowjackets got the eventual game winning goal. Fernando Bicalho (Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil/Kickapoo (Wis.)) started the play with a corner kick and defender Hugo Roos (Halmstad, Sweden/Aspero Idrottsgymnasium) finished it, sending a perfectly-placed header past the Northwestern keeper to make it a 3-1 match. It was the second goal of the year for Roos, who incidentally has scored both of his goals against the Eagles.

Then with just over 10 minutes to play the Yellowjackets increased the lead. Blake Perry (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), the frontrunner to win the U.M.A.C. Rookie of the Year award, netted his ninth goal of the year to make it 4-1.

Northwestern drew closer with just under four minutes to play, but that was their last offensive spurt and the Yellowjackets picked up another conference win.

Dalton VonKaenel (Eagan, Minn./Eagan H.S.) got the start in goal for the Yellowjackets and stopped four of the five shots on goal he faced before yielding the goal to Ulrik Lager (Vollen, Norway/Asker VGS) for the final nine minutes. Lager made one save on two shots.

Up Next: The Yellowjackets (13-2-1, 8-0-1 U.M.A.C.) will be home for their regular season finale and host Senior Day Saturday, October 20 when they host North Central. The match will kick off at 1:00 p.m. at the N.B.C. Spartan Sports Complex.