Augustana Men’s Soccer team beats Millikin 2-0 while hosting a home game on Saturday, Oct. 19. The Vikings now hold a record of 4-5-2 on the season and 2-2-1 in the CCIW.
During the first half, neither Augie or Millikin were successful at scoring throughout the duration of the game. The Vikings attempted to score for a total of three times but were unsuccessful in their efforts. Senior, Jeremy Klaber managed to block two of Millikin’s attempts to score. Millikin did the same when senior Salah Aghlaf attempted a shot in the second half of the game.
In an interview, junior Alex Sandev discussed the importance of looking ahead into the season. “I’m looking forward to making the CCIW tournament further in the season with the boys. The team is a strong collective and we are all absolute units. We have depth and we’re excited to see how the season plays out.” As a team, the Vikings have scored a total 11 times all season. The men also have rallied up 54 saves, 39 corner kicks and 122 shots altogether.
A few minutes into the second half of the game, senior Matt Allen scored a goal and the Vikings took the lead 1-0. Allen has a record of kicking four goals while also following up with four assists. He discussed the season and how the team has come together. “We have to impose our style on them rather than deal with their style of play. As team captain, it’s my responsibility that we are going in the right direction; we’re all on the same page and everybody has high morale,” Allen said.
The Vikings kept the score up as Aghlaf tried for two more shots in the second half. The first was blocked but the second shot was saved from another teammate. The Vikings kept up a strong offense as the Vikings made their way towards victory.
In the middle of the second half Allen kicked in another successful goal, this time with assists from Aghlaf and junior, Justin Murphy. Augustana’s defense did not allow any of Millikin’s shots to go into the net. Klaber finished with six saves while getting his fourth shutout of the year.
The Millikin Big Blue left Thorson-Lucken Field without scoring, with the Vikings taking away another victory, 2-0. Augustana was called for 18 fouls and issued four cautions, while the Big Blues received two cautions and had a total of 13 fouls.
The Augustana Men’s soccer team is hosting a match against Wisconsin-Platteville on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The kickoff at Thorson-Lucken Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.