No matter what kind of weather the Vikings faced Monday morning, they weren't going to be denied a victory against visiting St. Mary's University.
North Park played through wind, sun and rain—not to mention a slippery field turf surface—and still came away with a stellar 4-1 victory over the Cardinals to move their record to 2-0 on the young season.
Fresh off a shooting showcase where NP fired 14 total in a 3-0 win over Benedictine University Friday night, the Vikings picked up right where they left off and recorded 20 total shots, including a whopping 13 shots on goal.
St. Mary's, which came into the contest in its first varsity action of the year after the Cardinals season opener with North Central University was postponed Aug. 29, couldn't figure out North Park unfortunately as the Vikings defense was once again solid, shutting the visitors down for only 12 total shots.
Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh put away North Park's first goal in the 33rd minute when he buried a free kick from 15 yards out. Tahmi-Masoleh put just the right angle on the ball to curve it past keeper Zach Satton in the upper right corner of the net.
North Park then made it a 2-0 contest in the 70th minute when freshman Nathaniel Paisley connected for his first collegiate goal off the right side. He shook off two defenders, scooted past another and buried the ball in the left corner of the net. A Diego Lashlee goal off a Stany Lokamba pass gave NP a 3-0 advantage six minutes later and seemingly things looked complete for the Vikings. But St. Mary's quickly responded and came up with a score in the 80th minute on a header from Ryan Geidner. The Cardinals pushed over the next three minutes and nearly cut the deficit to one, but two amazing saves from Vikings' keeper Wesley Woodley negated the rally. Lokamba then added the final tally in the 86th minute off an assist from Fredrik Greiff.
A total of five yellow cards were issued with North Park receiving three. The Vikings also went as many as 14 deep into their bench in their second victory in the last four days.
North Park (2-0) returns to action this weekend when it travels to Mequon, Wisconsin to face off St. John's University and Concordia University Wisconsin.
