Thanks to Dr. Jeff Nelson for the pictures
WHEATON, Ill. -- The North Park men's soccer team went into halftime down 1-0, but a vibrant second half helped lead them to a 3-1 victory over Wheaton College at Joe Bean Stadium on Wednesday night.
It took only two minutes for NPU to find the back of the Thunder net when Jesse Anamoo poked in the ball for what looked like a 1-0 Vikings lead. The flag was raised, however, as Anamoo was just barely offside. North Park controlled the run of play for the next 25 minutes, but the Thunder caught a break when a Wheaton cross ricocheted off the hand of Kristoffer Risnes, who was in the penalty box. The center ref pointed to the spot, and Silas Galvao would convert the penalty for the hosts, putting Wheaton up 1-0. Despite being down, NPU would remain on the offensive finishing the first half with 11 total shots, and three of them on target. The goal would be the only shot on target for the Thunder in the entire half.
HALFTIME: Wheaton 1, North Park 0
Wheaton's defense remained stout in the first ten minutes of the second frame, but even the finest can only limit Peder Olsen for so long. The Thunder shutout was busted in the 57th minute when Olsen buried a shot in the lower right-hand corner on a dish from Angel Barriga. Gustav Ericsson was credited with the hockey assist.
The equalizing goal only spurred the Vikings on more as they looked for a shot that would bring them ahead. They found it in the 69th minute when William de Carro rolled the ball across the mouth of goal to a waiting boot of Tobias Lunde who blasted it in the back of the net for the NPU lead. The cherry on top came five minutes later when Anamoo slid the ball across to Ericsson, who blasted a laser to the upper-right hand corner with no chance for any Wheaton player to stop it.
With the exception of the PK for Wheaton, North Park's defense allowed no quality looks for the Thunder offense at goal. The hosts mustered only two shots in the second half, both off target. The Vikings outshot the Thunder 21-4 and had 15 corners compared to Wheaton's two.
FINAL: North Park 3, Wheaton 1
Quick Hits:
- Vikings heavily outshoot Thunder: 21-to-4 in total and 8-to-1 on goal
- Goals for Olsen, Ericsson, and Lunde
- Assists for Barriga, Ericsson, de Carro, and Anamoo
- 15 corners for North Park, a season high
What's Next?
The Vikings (9-3, 4-0 CCIW) will have a week off before heading to Carroll University on Wednesday, October 13th to take on the Pioneers (7-2-1, 0-0-1 CCIW). Kickoff will be 7:30 PM at Schneider Stadium.
