The Lawrence University men’s and women’s soccer teams took the long trip down to Illinois this past weekend to start their conference schedule. On Saturday, Sept. 23, they faced off against the Knox Prairie Fire while Sunday, Sept. 24’s foe was the Illinois College Blue Boys and Lady Blues.
The action kicked off with the women’s team taking on Knox (3-4-0, 0-0-0 MWC). It did not take the Prairie Fire long to strike first as they took a 1-0 lead over the Lady Vikes in the 14th minute of action. They added two more goals in the first half, expanding their lead to 3-0, in the 27th and 40th minutes of play. In the second half, Knox really poured it on scoring seven goals, including two in the 49th minute and one each in the 60th, 73rd, 83rd, 84th, and 90th minute. Knox won the game 10-0. Lawrence only took three shots in the entire game. Freshman goalie Katlyn Seiffert made 13 saves in goal during the game.
On the men’s side, Knox (5-2-2, 0-0-0 MWC) proved to be too much for the Vikings to handle. The scoring started quickly as both teams score within the first minute of play. Knox struck first, but Lawrence evened the score at one on an unassisted goal by freshman Nicholas Jatta. Knox then took control of the match scoring six unanswered goals in the 9th, 15th, 32nd, 64th, 67th, and 75th minutes. The Prairie Fire won the game 7-1. Lawrence only got of five shots the entire game. Freshman and goalie Julien Riviere made nine saves in the loss.
The next, the action once again started with the women, this time taking on Illinois College (1-8-0, 0-1-0 MWC). The only scoring in the first half occurred in the 22nd minute as Illinois College found the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead. In the second half, they stretched their lead to 3-0 on goals in the 47th and 55th minutes. The Lady Vikes responded to cut the lead to 3-1 when senior Ryan Berkley scored in the 58th minute. However, it would not be enough as Lawrence lost by a score of 3-1. Lawrence took 12 shots in the match and Seiffert made six saves for the Lady Vikes in goal.
The last game of the weekend put the men up against Illinois College (4-5-0, 0-1-0 MWC). The Blue Boys started the game off strong striking first in the fourth minute of play. The rest of the first half would remain scoreless. In the second half, Illinois College once again struck first finding the back of the net in the 66th minute to make the score 2-0. Lawrence cut the lead to 2-1 when Senior Lewis Berger scored on a penalty kick in the 80th minute. That was the end of the scoring and the Vikings went on to lose by a score of 2-1. Lawrence only took one shot in the entire game. Riviere made seven saves in goal.
With the two losses, the women’s team dropped to 1-6-0 on the season and 0-2-0 in the conference and the men’s team dropped to 1-7-0 on the season and 0-2-0 in the conference. The women are back in action next as they travel to Carroll University on Wednesday, Sept. 27 for a 7 pm game. Both teams will look for their first conference wins on Sunday, Oct. 1 as they travel to Lake Forest for a double-header. The women play first at 1pm followed by the men at 3:30 pm.
