On October 6, the Saint Xavier men’s soccer team battled against Cardinal Stritch University on the pitch. The Cougars would not find the back of the the net in this one, losing a tough, competitive game to a conference foe.
The Cougars would have their chance early to make a dent in the scoreboard, but they missed on their chances. In the 4th minute forward Mike McLaughlin would miss a header just wide.
In the tenth minute the Cougars would attempt two shots, but they were blocked and missed just wide.
Even when the Cougars did get a shot on goal, which they did in the 15 minute, the shot would be saved by Cardinal Stritch’s goalie. The missed opportunities in the first half would prove to be the downfall of the Cougars, while Cardinal Stritch would prove to be opportunists, scoring a goal from 40 yards out to take a 1-0 lead in the 37 minute of the game.
After another shot on goal for the Cougars that was saved in the 40th minute, the teams would go into halftime with the opposition leading 1-0. Once again, missed chances would prove costly for the Cougars in the second half as they would shoot two shots toward the net, but they were blocked and wide left respectively.
After that early barrage, the game would go into a lull as neither team would get a great opportunity to score for the majority of the second half. The next moment of excitement came in the 81 minute when Ivan Valencia would get a shot toward the net. But, as was a common occurrence in this game for the Cougars, the shot went wide.
Once again, another opportunity to score presented itself on the foot of midfielder Ricardo Aldape, but he too would miss the shot wide. The Cougars would get one last opportunity to tie the game and send it into overtime. In the 87 minute, off of a corner kick, forward Marco Gutierrez would get a header that seemed like it would go in.
However, it did not as Cardinal Stritch’s goalie would make the biggest save of the game to give Cardinal Stritch a 1-0 win. These players would have to put this loss in the back of their minds and take the positives out of this game if they hoped to go on the road and win a game.
On Saturday, October 10, the Saint Xavier men’s soccer team would go on the road to face a tough opponent in Roosevelt University. Despite the tight score, this game was not really close as the Cougars’ offense would once again not score, while Roosevelt would pepper Saint Xavier with shots.
At home, Roosevelt came out with a ton of energy, shooting four shots, two of which were on goal, at goalie Frank Valle. Fortunately for the Cougars, he was on his game. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the defense and offense were not on their games.
The Cougars’ defense would not look sharp at all in the first half, giving up shot after shot. Despite this, the Cougars would find themselves still in a position to win as the game would head into halftime with the score tied at 0.
The tie would not last long into the second half though, as Valle would finally relinquish a goal and give Roosevelt a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute. However, the Cougars offense would show improvement after the goal, possessing the ball and getting shots toward the opposition’s net.
For the majority of the second half, both teams would trade shots with each other, with the Cougars playing desperately to avoid a winless week. Alas, a second goal by Roosevelt in the 81st minute would prove to be the icing on the cake for them and the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Cougars. The Cougars would lose this one 2-0.
The star of the game was clearly Valle, making eight saves on the day and keeping the score closer than it should have been for the Cougars. With the two losses on the week, the Cougars’ record now sits at 6-6 with a conference record of 3-3.
The Cougars will look to get back into the win column on October 14, against conference opponent Saint Ambrose University at home.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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