Elsah, ILL. -- Principia Men's Soccer hosted Earlham College on Saturday afternoon. Coming off of a victory against Harris Stowe on Tuesday, the Principia men sought a third consecutive win. Earlham College played Illinois College to a double over time 1-1 draw the previous Saturday.
The Panthers had the majority of chances and possession throughout the match, but weren't able to find the back of the net in the first half.
Kaden Keller found the end of a long throw in from
Caleb Grow that nearly found the bottom left corner.
Carson Hussey also nearly placed found the goal with a header on a corner, but just missed the target. The Principia defense only allowed 3 shots in the first half and just 1 shot from Earlham in the second half. In the other direction, Principia took a total of 19 shots, 9 in the first half and 10 in the second.
The Keller brothers, for the second time this season, both scored a goal to complete the 2-0 victory. The Principia men made it difficult for Earlham to play out of the back for much of the game. The press from Principia paid off about midway through the second half as
Kaleb Keller anticipated and intercepted a pass across the Earlham back line and didn't hesitate to find the back of the goal. About 10 minutes later,
Kaleb Keller placed a free kick from 40 yards out into the box and found the foot of
Kaden Keller on the back post, who passed it into the goal neatly.
Several players helped from the bench to show Principia's depth. Gabriel Theodoro and
Patrick Sherman came into the game for solid offensive shifts.
Mwesa Mulonda,
George Agai, and
Aaron Marczi all worked hard to cover the wide positions throughout the game.
Liam Peschke played his first collegiate minutes, and put a dangerous shot just over the cross bar with his first touch in the college game.
Jordan Jones and Matthew McLeod also played strong minutes to close out the game.
The Panthers have no mid-week match which will give them a chance to get prepared for the rest of the season. The men travel to Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, September 21
st for their next match.
