There was beautiful weather Tuesday for the second home game of the USI men’s soccer season. The team looked to bounce back from a tough 8-0 loss over the weekend.
USI took a different approach in the lineup, hoping to win their first game against Purdue University Fort Wayne. The Mastodons came into the game off a 2-0 victory. Their forward, Shane Anderson, graduate forward, was the lone scorer in that game, which also proved true in this match.
In the third minute of the match-up, Purdue’s Anderson found the back of USI’s net. Christian Leon, junior midfielder, assisted with the goal. Five minutes later, Purdue University Fort Wayne had another scoring opportunity, but Andrew Klott, sophomore goalkeeper, made a big save.
Soon, USI found their first scoring opportunity 12 minutes into the game, a battle of corner kicks. Purdue University Fort Wayne shot their first corner of the game at the 27-minute mark, but it was wide. Twelve minutes later, USI’s Ahiro Nakamae, freshman midfielder, struck the ball from the corner, but the Mastodons won it back through the air, taking it to their side for yet another corner kick. USI was controlling the possession in the air this time and taking it back to their side.
A foul by the Mastodons led to USI’s Diego Rodriguez, sophomore defender, to shoot on the goal, but a save by Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Nic Diana, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper. With ten minutes left in the first half, they fouled again, which created several opportunities for USI, none ending with the ball in the back of the net.
After this, Purdue University Fort Wayne received a plethora of scoring opportunities. With nine minutes remaining, Eliam Mier, junior midfielder, took a corner, leading to Marco Valiena, junior forward, heading it above the net.
After USI received a foul for high kicking, Purdue Fort Wayne had another chance to find the back of the net when Juan Romero, senior midfielder, had a shot on goal.
Another foul called against USI with five minutes remaining led to Romero having another shot on goal, but Klott made the save. A little over a minute remained in the first half, and USI saw some chances to score, but their efforts were not enough to finish the job.
Going into the second half, USI was still down by one goal.
After playing defense in the first half, Jackson Mitchell, sophomore forward, moved back to the offensive side of the field, creating a corner kick five minutes in after sliding in an attempt to score. USI’s Gavin English, freshman defender, headed the ball wide of the goal.
Fouls from both teams led to scoring opportunities but to no avail. Frustration started to kick in for USI after several unsuccessful scoring attempts.
In the final four minutes of the second half, USI added some fresh legs to the field. Still, Purdue University Fort Wayne dominated possession in the final three minutes, resulting in another loss for The University of Southern Indiana men’s soccer team. The final score was 1-0, with Purdue University Fort Wayne claiming the victory.
The Screaming Eagles will host the Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology at 7 p.m. Wednesday.