MITCHELL, S.D. — Dakota Wesleyan Men's Soccer squared off against the Morningside Mustangs on senior night in the team's final regular-season contest.
With the postseason looming, the Tigers battled against the Mustangs to give themselves a chance at hosting a quarterfinals matchup in the GPAC tournament. Dakota Wesleyan was certainly up to the task, and while the match had a slow start, both sides began to show their offensive power as they settled into the contest. The Tigers would strike first, with senior Michael Kelly connecting on a string of passes from Lukas Adamhuber and Maximilian Nolle in the 23rd minute to get on the board. Dakota Wesleyan saw multiple athletes contribute to its 10-shot total throughout the match, led by Neil Ennis and AJ Bowman, who both recorded two shots apiece. However, following the first goal from Kelly, the Morningside counterattack would finally break through. The Mustangs found the back of the net off a long pass in the final two minutes of the half to knot the score up at 1-1 as both teams headed into the locker room.
Morningside continued its attack out of the break, putting up another unassisted goal in the 50th minute to claim a 2-1 lead. The Tigers got opportunities in the second half but were countered by the Mustangs both defensively and on the back half of the pitch, where their offense continued to apply pressure to goalkeeper Zackary Stephens and the backline. Senior leaders Ennis and Colin Burke highlighted the defensive efforts to aid Stephens and limit Mustang scoring opportunities. At the same time, David Lennon, Luis Waeschle, and Charlie Orsler all added to the DWU attack. Ultimately, in the 67th minute, it would be Adamhuber who tied the contest back up at 2-2 after drilling a shot into the goal following a perfect pass from Bowman. The momentum was not long-lived, however, as Morningside took the lead once again by a score of 3-2. A final Dakota Wesleyan offensive surge saw multiple Tigers get a chance to connect on another tying shot, but stout defense from the Mustangs ultimately secured Morningside the victory over Dakota Wesleyan. The Tigers end the regular season with an overall record of 7-10-1 and a 5-4-1 record in GPAC play.
With the result, the Tigers head into the GPAC Tournament as the five-seed and will face Morningside once again, this time down in Sioux City, on Saturday, November 1st, at 1:00 PM. More details will be available here.