ASHLAND, Wis. – Last Saturday the Yellowjacket men's soccer team captured the program's seventh straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championship, adding to an already successful season in 2024. Riding a four-match winning streak, the 'Jackets hit the road to face Northland College in conference play Wednesday.
The hot offense was on display once again, as UWS scored 11 goals in the first half on its way to a 15-1 victory over the LumberJacks.
Match Notes
- UW-Superior opened the scoring in the fourth minute of play, as a Northland defender drew a foul inside the box. Jake Kidd (Superior, Wis./Superior) took the penalty kick and buried his 16th goal of the campaign.
- Two minutes later Freddy Watson (Wendover, England/Berkshire College of Agriculture) took a feed from Isaac Becket (Surrey, England/The Sixth Form College Farnborough), as he cracked the double-digit goal mark this season.
- Kidd struck again in the 10th minute of action. Felipe Oliveira (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Soma) dished a pass to Kidd and he beat LumberJacks' goalkeeper Rodrigo Chavez, giving UWS a 3-0 lead.
- Watson picked up his second of the match two minutes later, lifting the Yellowjackets to a 4-0 lead.
- Josh Bellamy (High Wycombe, England/FAB Football Academy) and William Maanstroem (Oestersund, Sweden/Jaemtlands Gymnasium) scored a pair of unassisted goals within two minutes of each other. Bellamy tabbed his eighth of the season while Maanstroem garnered his first of 2024.
- The Yellowjackets scored five more in the half, as Alfie Hudd (Exeter, England/Exeter) notched his second of the year. Bellamy struck in the 24th minute before Joel Thomas (Cardiff, Wales/Islwyn) and Theo Figueiredo (Cuiaba, Brazil/EE Marcelina de Campos) joined the scoring. Thomas scored twice, while Figueiredo logged the fourth of his Yellowjacket career.
- Northland found the back of the net in the 48th minute, as Noah Del Vecchio fired a free kick to the upper-left portion of the goal, beating Yellowjacket keeper Daniel Young (Chino Hills, Calif./Ruben S. Ayala) for the LumberJacks' lone goal of the evening.
- Watson and Kidd would receive hat tricks after goals in the 49th and 55th minutes, respectively.
- Phillip Jobst and Finley Purnell (Northampton, England/Southam College) each found the back of the net for the second time in 2024, coming in the 75th and 80th minutes.
- UWS took 55 shots in the match, a new season-high this season.
- Thomas and Watson led the offensive output, finishing with eight and seven total shots.
The Yellowjackets return to Superior Choice Credit Union Stadium Saturday, hosting Crown in its regular season finale. The opening kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Superior.
