DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – The No. 7 Loras Men's Soccer team opened the NCAA Tournament at home on Saturday against Westminster College. Despite the flurries falling from the sky and temperatures in the low 20's, the Duhawks sent home the Blue Jays of Westminster College by a scoreline of 2-nil. Goals were scored by freshman Spencer Moore (66') and senior Mike Pizzello (74').

Both teams got off to a slow start resulting in a combined 11 shots in the first half. The Duhawks led with eight shots tallied by seven different players and Moore leading the pack with two shots. Sophomore goalkeeper, Adam Roloff faced his shot of the game in the 33rd minute when Westminster's Dustin Seibolt battled sophomore Calivin Miller at the back post and came out with the slight edge. Seibolt's header was tipped safely wide and out of danger by Roloff.

While the Duhawks had a number of promising shots in the first half, they were unable to find the back to the net as Westmister's goalkeeper, Raul Belman Romero made six saves to keep the clean sheet intact.

In the second half, the intensity, along with the physicality, picked up from the whistle. Senior forward Dillon Olson made his presence known pressuring the Blue Jay defense on multiple occasions. In the 50th minute, junior Richard Lenke made a break up the near line to find Olson near the top of the box. Olson did his part by beating two Westminster defenders only to be narrowly denied by a third just inside the box.

The added pressure from the Duhawk swarm in the second half constantly tested Romero as the forwards found their way through holds in the Blue Jays' defense. In the 66th minute, Dillon Olson played a ball up and over the Westminster backline, allowing Lenke to break free. Once again Belman Romero came charging off his line, but this time, Lenke lifted the ball over the diving Belman Romero where Moore beat his man in a foot race to send home the winner.

Eight minutes later, freshman Ike Bruns made his presence felt, making a break down the near line. Keeping his composure, Bruns slid his offering to Pizzello near the top of the 18 where the senior capitalized and sent home his 13th goal of the season, freezing Belman Romero in the middle of the net.

Game Changer
After the halftime break, the Duhawks dominated the flow of play, but Raul Belman Romero's kept the sides level at zero. Finally, Dillon Olson and Richard Lenke combined to spring Spencer Moore free to put the Duhawks ahead.
 
Key Stat
The Duhawks were whistled for offsides on 10 different occasions. Before Saturday, the highest number of offsides calls that Loras had against them in a game was four back in September against Carroll University.
 
Notables

 
Quotable
Loras Head Coach Dan Rothert
"We came out a little slow, but battled through that and picked up some steam going into halftime where we fixed a few things and brought out some more intensity."
 
"Ultimately, we'd like to score a goal in the first half and get control so that we can rest some guys, but at the end of the day, we were able to push our play to a lot of different guys so we are rested for tomorrow."
 
"All in all, not a bad performance and the train is moving."
 
Up Next
The victory moves Loras to 16-2-2 overall and puts them in the Regional Final tomorrow at 5 p.m. in the Rock Bowl against No. 23 Gustavus Adolphus College. The Gusties defeated Dominican University 1-0 on Saturday.