PELLA, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The month of October continued to favor the Loras men's soccer team, who improved to 12-5-0 this season after a 2-1 defeat of Central on Tuesday. Senior
Javi Simon netted his 11th of the season but it was freshman
Manny Lopez who's first career goal proved to be the difference for the Purple & Gold.
STARTING XI
1 - Peterson // 2 - Berardi // 4 - McDonnell
5 - Pacholski // 6 - Alfaro // 7 - O'Connell
9 - Simon // 13 - Moore // 19 - Broderick
23 - Bruns // 25 - Galvez
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
-The Dutch recorded the only shot on target in the first 20 minutes, coming in the 12th minute and had it saved by senior
Jacob Peterson
-Simon provided the early fireworks, scoring his 11th of the season in the 21st minute on an assist from senior
Spencer Moore
-Central recorded three shots and a pair of corner kicks inside of a three-minute window, but none managed to beat Peterson
-Less than five minutes after coming on as a substitute, freshman
Manny Lopez pinged his shot off the side post and benefited from a fortunate bounce as it carried past the goal line for the Westchester native's first goal of the season
-The Dutch broke through and pulled within one after catching Loras on a counter-attack in the 60th minute
-Central's comeback bid was severely limited by its inability to challenge Peterson, as the River Forest native did not record a save following the goal
NOTABLES
-At the time of publishing, Loras is guaranteed a top-two seed in the conference tournament and await the result of Luther vs. Dubuque … A win or draw by the Norse delivers the regular season title to Luther as well as the No. 1 seed … A loss by the Norse moves the Duhawks into a tie at the top of the table and awards Loras the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament
-The Duhawks ran their winning streak to eight and capped a perfect month of October at 8-0-0
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME - SPENCER MOORE
The senior set up Simon for the Duhawks' first goal and collected his 19th assist of his career and sixth of the season. Moore leads all active players with 41 career points.
UP NEXT
Tuesday night's results around the conference will dictate the rest of the six-team field for the IIAC Tournament. At this point, Loras will be at home next Wednesday. Opponent and kickoff time will be finalized on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
