Box Score PLYMOUTH, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – The Wisconsin Lutheran College men's soccer team erupted for five goals to defeat the Lakeland Muskies 5-2 Thursday night at Taylor Field. The game, initially scheduled to be played Wednesday night, was postponed to Thursday due to lightning in the area. The win marks the second consecutive year that the Warriors were victorious in their NACC opener.
THE BASICS
- Final Score: Wisconsin Lutheran 5, Lakeland 2
- Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (4-3-1, 1-0-0 NACC), Lakeland (0-6-0, 0-1-0 NACC)
- Location: Taylor Field, Plymouth, Wis.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Warriors struck first when Connor Schodorf (Appleton, Wis.) converted from the penalty spot for his first goal of the season in the 4' minute.
- Graham Ver Velde (Oostburg, Wis.) doubled the lead when he headed home a cross from Alex Rivera (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Ivan Herrera (Milwaukee, Wis.) to the back post in the 24' minute.
- Juan Serna (Milwaukee, Wis.) scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season when he took a through ball from Herrera and blasted the ball into the right-hand corner for a 3-0 halftime lead.
- Charles Apostolik scored twice in less than two minutes in the second half for the Muskies to cut the WLC lead to just one with 30 minutes remaining.
- Kenneth Sutton (New Berlin, Wis.) put the Warriors back ahead by two when he tapped in a long throw-in from Isaiah Gronholz (Watertown, Wis.) in the 78' minute.
- Gronholz capped the scoring in the 83' minute when he hit a cross on a bicycle kick from Serna to the keeper who initially made the save, but the ball spun into the back of the net.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Warriors out-shot the hosts by a final tally of 26-10, with 14 of their shots coming on goal.
- Five different players scored for Wisconsin Lutheran, with nine different players registering shots on goal.
- Eleven different WLC players registered shots in the contest.
- Erek Lehnen (Fort Meyers, Fla.) corralled five saves in goal.
- The Warriors totaled 11 corner kicks, while only allowing four for Lakeland.
- The five goals for Wisconsin Lutheran are the most since the 2015 season when it scored five times in three different games.
- WLC won its fifth straight match over LU.
FOR THE FOES
- Apostolik recorded all seven shots on goal for the Muskies.
- Thomis Mannebach collected nine saves in net.
- The Muskies dropped their sixth consecutive match.
UP NEXT
- The Warriors continue NACC play when they host Rockford (1-6-1, 0-1-0 NACC) Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at WLCSports.com.
