Nov. 2, 2022 – It's one down and one to go for Loras College men's soccer in the pursuit of a second straight American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament Championship after a decisive 4-0 win over Nebraska Wesleyan University on Wednesday night in the semifinal round.

The Duhawks (10-5-2) spelled disaster for the Prairie Wolves (7-8-3) yet again Wednesday in a runaway 4-0 victory that marked the second lopsided game between the two teams this season after Loras topped Nebraska Wesleyan 5-0 at the Rock Bowl back on Sept. 24. The Prairie Wolves were shut out just three times this season in their 18 games, with two of them coming to the Duhawks.

Loras advances to the A-R-C Championship match versus second-seeded Luther College, which defeated third-seeded Simpson College 4-1 on Wednesday night, on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Rock Bowl.

The Duhawks got ahead early and never looked back against NWU on Wednesday as senior defender Jared Block tallied two goals in the game's first 13 minutes.

Block's first goal came on a corner kick pass from senior midfielder Kevin Kucaba that was put into play by freshman forward Taylor Sowell. Kucaba's sizzling pass bounced off Block, who was positioned perfectly in front of the goal, and bounded in to give Loras a 1-0 lead in just the fourth minute of play.

Block tallied another goal in the 13^th minute as a short touch-pass from junior forward Reed Miklavcic set him up for a header chance, which he finished to boost Loras to an early 2-0 advantage. The goals also gave Block the first multi-goal game of his Duhawk career.

Loras tacked on two more before the half as sophomore midfielder Michael Koutsopanagos slinged a ball past the NWU goalkeeper to the far-left post in the 28^th minute. Six minutes later, senior midfielder Michael Brandt finished a scoring chance after his first attempt bounced off the crossbar and briefly created some havoc in front of the net.

Brandt's second attempt found nylon to give Loras a 4-0 lead and get sophomore midfielder Bryan Basinger into the box score with an assist.

With a sizable lead in hand, the Duhawks packed in the defense and held off any sort of NWU comeback attempt in the second half. The Duhawks finished with 25 shots compared to 13 for the Prairie Wolves.

Loras will face Luther for the A-R-C Tournament Championship on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Rock Bowl. Start time for that match is still to be announced.