SXU Athletics
The Saint Xavier men’s soccer team regained a winning record in the conference with a 1-nil victory over Purdue University Calumet Saturday.
Saint Xavier entered that match with a 1-1-1 record in conference play following a 4-0 loss on the road to Judson University last Tuesday.
The matchup against Purdue University Calumet would not be quite so one-sided, and Saint Xavier would wind up on top.
The Cougars played tough through the first half of play, making sure to outshoot the Peregrines 5-2 in 45 minutes of action.
Neither team could find the back of the net during that time, however.
After the first half of play, the match was scoreless and the Cougars needed a win to get back to a winning record in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
They did so with a second half that featured the only goal of the game. Though it was not the cleanest of goals, it got the job done.
In the 50th minute, Saint Xavier had possession of the ball. Junior forward Roger Ciszewski had a ball deflected and, fortuitously, the carom went to Kamil Szczesniak.
Szczesniak, a native of Poland, got the ball ten yards from the goal and fired a shot past opposing goalkeeper David Miguel to give the Cougars all the offense they would need.
Things got chippy later in the match when Peregrine substitute Victor Garcia received his second yellow card, which resulted in a red card in the 65th minute.
At the same time, forward Jawayne Spence and substitute Christian Garcia were assessed yellow cards, as was junior Cougar defender Peter London.
In the end, the match came down to Saint Xavier getting more shots away (nine) than Purdue University Calumet did (seven). In addition, senior keeper AJ Pfatschbacher had a good game, making stops on all four shots that got through to him.
The win against Purdue University Calumet got the Cougars to a winning record, but their record had fallen to even with the previous loss to the Judson Eagles.
Pfatschbacher was not as successful against the Eagles as he had been against the Peregrines. He faced four shots and made one save, but he was left one-on-one for the first goal.
Judson midfielder Noah Price dribbled around defenders until he was mano a mano with Pfatschbacher. Price got a clear shot at the goal and took it to go up 1-0 in the 27th minute.
In the 36th minute, the Eagles were awarded a corner kick. Santiago Munoz did the honors and Ezra White headed it in for the 2-0 lead.
Munoz then got his own goal on a free kick from 30 yards out in the 51st minute.
He finished the scoring with his second goal of the game on a through ball feed from Price, which Munoz would bury from the left side of the box.
The Cougars did not have a bad offensive day with regard to creating opportunities. They actually outshot the Eagles.
Saint Xavier finished with 12 shots, six of which were on target. Judson completed the match with eight shots, five of which were directed on goal.
The Cougars were especially effective in getting shots away in the first period, during which time they outshot the Eagles 7-4. But Saint Xavier was hurt by the 21 fouls they committed in the match, 11 of which came in the second half of play.
The Cougars were not up to the challenge of beating opposing keeper Jarod Schieler, who made saves on all six of the shots he faced in the match.
The men’s soccer team has three tough road tests ahead of it, beginning with a 4 p.m. match today against Trinity International University.
The Cougars will then travel to Bourbonnais, Illinois, Saturday for a 7 p.m. romp against a tough Olivet Nazarene Tiger squad that received votes in the latest NAIA top-25 coaches’ poll.
Saint Xavier concludes the road trip with a 7 p.m. match at Calumet College of Saint Joseph on Tuesday before returning home next Saturday.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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@TimCarroll_XAV
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