Box Score Fulton, Mo- On a cloudy Saturday afternoon in Fulton, Mo, the Principia men's soccer scratched and bit their way to 3-2 win against a pesky Westminster side in a game which was not short of fireworks. Despite the cold front that was sweeping through the area, this match turned out to be the most hotly contested match of the season; full of turns and twists and marred with plenty of complaints from both sides. Early in the game, both teams struggled to gain full control of the match and it wasn't until the 25th minute when a seemingly reckless challenge on panther keeper
Matt Jones drew the ire of his surrounding teammates who reacted drawing a crowd of both teams. When the dust settled from the melee,
Christian Thomas emerged with his marching orders and the panthers would play the rest of the way down a man.
Barely four minutes later, a blue jay attacker came down the right flank past the first defender only to run into the wall that is
John Gotwals, resulting in a penalty kick against the Panthers. The blue jay forward did well to bury the ball in the back of the net to take the lead.
Dubien Tshimanga would restore order two minutes later following a good sequence of pressing action between
McGuire Semnacher,
Gustavo Batista and
Robert Barnacle. Semnacher would poach the ball and find a streaking
Evan Sperr whose pinpoint pass would slip Tshimanga through on the backside. His first touch was flawless and his finish, sublime.
The second half produced much of the same with back and forth activity from both sides. The foul count was a bit unusual with both teams accumulating a total of 31 fouls while receiving a total of eight cautions and one ejection. As the second half wore on and the game began to open up a good exchange between Semancher, Gustavo and
Leif Carlson resulted in a slipped pass by Carlson to Semnacher down the left flank. His service into the box found an unmarked Tshimanga who did well to redirect the ball off a header into the net for the lead in the 65th minute.
The blue jays once again responded creating something out of nothing as Gotwals indecision by the far corner flag resulted in the blue jay forward running down the end line into the box where Carlson was called for excessive contact resulting in the second penalty kick of the day for the blue birds. They made it count to level the score. The panthers however continued in their search for a win and were rewarded when Semnacher's effort from the right side was parried away by the blue jay net minder but a poor clearance by the defender hang high in the box and
Nate Waters attempt to bring the ball down was impeded by the defender resulting in the third PK of the day. Waters made no mistake wrong footing the blue jay custodian to secure the win for the panthers. Other notable performances included an outstanding effort by panther net minder, Jones who dealt well with the aerial assault by the blue jays all afternoon while making some outstanding acrobatic saves. The panthers now go back home for a Tuesday afternoon matchup against MacMurray College in Elsah, IL @ 8:00pm
