CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 16-ranked North Park Men's Soccer team prevented any shots on goal for nearly 80 minutes en route to a 2-0 win over previously unbeaten Illinois Wesleyan University on Homecoming Saturday night.
The Titans were the first to see stats come through on the offensive front, sending in three shots, all off target, in the first five minutes. However, North Park would be the first to threaten a score. Fifth-year midfielder Jostein Blindheim sent a shot on frame before junior midfielder Love Brandt added a shot over the goalpost in the 11th minute.
The two teams battled for advantage for the next 10 minutes before North Park would break the scoreless tie. Junior defender Hugo Neborg set up the score by sending a corner kick in, allowing Blindheim to fire consecutive shots on target. Blindheim's initial header was blocked by the IWU defense before his follow-up kick found the back of the net in the 22nd minute.
North Park nearly added another goal, this time by Neborg, in the 27th minute before the Titans' Jackson Colman stood on the goal line for a defensive, non-goalkeeper save.
Before halftime, though, North Park would extend its lead. Freshman midfielder Bastian Eikeland crossed in from the left side as fellow freshman midfielder Alexander Gahm leapt to head the cross in for his first goal of the season in the 41st minute, extending the NPU lead to 2-0 heading into halftime.
North Park cruised in the second half as the Titans continued to make mass line changes across their available field players. The Vikings duplicated that effort, sending batches of four and five rested players off the bench with a full tank of gas.
This effort led to the Titans not sending their first shot on goal until the 79th minute when Kalabi Kumau aimed just inside the left post before freshman goalkeeper Ludvig Almborg punched it out, leading to a Titan corner kick. That led to another chance for Kamau, whose header cleared the cross bar, which seemed to be the theme of the evening for Illinois Wesleyan.
After a long Saturday of events at Holmgren, North Park completed a three-game sweep, joining the Viking Football and Women's Soccer program with wins on Hedstrand Field.
Quick Hits:
- Goals for Blindheim and Gahm
- Assist to Eikeland
- North Park with 22 shots and a dozen on frame
- IWU held to just a single shot on goal and 11 mostly vertically superior misses
- Vikings take away Titans' "0"
What's Next?
North Park (9-1-4, 3-1-1 CCIW) steps out of conference to play U-Chicago (5-5-1) at the Maroons' home field next Wednesday, Oct. 7. Kickoff at Stagg Field is set for 7:00 PM CT.
