Elsah, IL – Principia Men's soccer hosted Blackburn for their 3rd conference game of the season. Blackburn was coming off a 6-0 loss to Webster but defeated Eureka 2-1 in overtime. The cold front from last night's rain made for pleasant soccer weather.
Principia looked out of sync early in the game, and Blackburn capitalized in the 10th minute with a superb first-time strike from the top of the box. Principia responded accordingly, and junior forward Patrick Sherman found the bottom left corner of the net after a sharp cut to set up the shot on his right foot. The assist came from freshman Juan Cabral. However, the rest of the first half did not go Principia's way, as Blackburn managed to find Luke Atkinson for an unmarked shot in the box. Then, after a giveaway in Principia territory, Atkinson would score again from a similar range in the 46th minute.
For the majority of the game, the score stalled, with Blackburn leading 3-1. That was until the 86th minute when captain EG Pierce decided to take matters into his own hands. From the center-back position, Pierce made a brave overlapping run in which he received the ball from Patrick Sherman and crossed a left-footed pass back into Sherman, who was at this point well into the middle of the box. It took a bit of a reach to get his right foot on the ball, but Sherman was able to carefully redirect it into the back of the net – just inside the left post. Principia was back in the game, but time was limited.
Those last four minutes were Principia's best. The men had a couple of significant counterattacks from their half, both ended with stunning shots from Liam Peschke, but unfortunately, each hit the woodwork and went out of bounds. Final score: Blackburn 3, Principia 2.
Good to Know: Patrick Sherman's brace today makes it his third consecutive game with a goal. He now has four goals on the season.
Up Next: This Saturday, September 25th, the men will travel to Fulton, MO., to take on Westminster College, who are 2-0 in conference play.
