Yellowjackets 4, Augsburg 1
The 2017 Yellowjacket men's soccer team set the offensive bar high, producing at a clip that made them one of the highest-scoring teams in the country. Fast forward to 2018, and it has taken the squad a little time to get going. Following a pair of scoreless losses to open the season, the Yellowjackets have found their stride and the offense has started to come.
Tuesday the Yellowjackets hosted an unbeaten Augsburg team, and they picked a great time to post their highest goal output of the season. Using a balanced offensive attack the Yellowjackets got goals from four different players and scored twice in each half on the way to a 4-1 win before a crowd of 261 on a perfect September evening at the N.B.C. Spartan Sports Complex.
The Yellowjackets controlled the play of the match from the outset, sending numerous balls toward the Augsburg goal and keeping Auggie goalkeeper Zachary Berg busy. The home team broke through in the 27th minute as
Felix Blick (Linkoping, Sweden/Katedralskolan) took a feed from
Eric Watson (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Hammarskjold) and broke down the right side toward the goal. Blick's initial shot was stopped, but he got his own rebound and buried his first goal of the year to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead.
With time winding down in the first half the Yellowjackets moved ahead by two. This time freshman
Blake Perry (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), who should have broken into the scoring column a week ago against Bethel, finished off a nifty centering pass from
Blake Hanson (Superior, Wis./Superior) and flipped it past Berg to make it a 2-0 match.
Up a pair as the second half commenced the Yellowjackets stretched the lead further just 1:56 into the second half.
Elliot Chapman (Lancaster, England/Ripley St. Thomas) started the play on a free kick, sending it into the box and
James Bruce (Gladstone, Mich./Gladstone) finished it, getting lower than the defense and heading it past Berg for his second of the year, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Augsburg finall broke through in the 53rd minute when Daniel Hedstrom got inside positioning and headed the ball off a corner kick into the Yellowjacket goal, cutting the lead to 3-1. Then, with just over a minute to play the Yellowjackets got it back, as Hanson scored his second of the year, finishing off a played
Miguel Ocampo (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park) started on a free kick, to make the final score 4-1.
The Yellowjackets outshot the Auggies 19-11 for the match and held an edge in shots on goal, 11-4.
Dalton VonKaenel (Eagan, Minn./Eagan H.S.) got the start and the win for the Yellowjackets, improving his record to 3-1-0 for the season.
Up Next: The Yellowjackets (4-2-0, 0-0-0 U.M.A.C.) will now enter conference play, and they'll dive right into the deep end of the pool when they travel to Duluth to take on St. Scholastica. The battle of conference heavyweights will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, September 15.
