The men of Lawrence University soccer played their hearts out for 110 minutes against the Lake Forest Foresters, but neither team came away with anything to show for the effort.
Both teams showed off impressive defenses and solid goalkeeping en route to the 0-0 tie: Lawrence had 12 shots – four on goal – in the game, including three each from juniors Paul Senner and Bennett Pang, but the team was stymied by Foresters goalkeeper Tom Biesiada, who was named Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Biesada’s shutout was matched by the Vikings defense, which allowed only one shot on goal in the 110 minutes of play.
The teams were “extremely well matched” according to Senner, who added that “this game could have gone either way – both teams played very hard. It would have been nice to have gotten a victory, but we will take a tie.”
The game moves the Vikings’ record to 2-4-3 overall and 0-1-2 in the Midwest Conference. The large number of ties is reason for the team to be optimistic, said captain Nico Walker: “We are so close, we just need to start finishing off games. Wins will come if we keep playing well.”
Lawrence came away from the game a bit beat up, however. Junior captain Colin Vize, playing on a sprained ankle, appeared to aggravate the injury in attempting a slide tackle.
Trainer Rob Rashid is confident that the injury is nothing worse than a small tweak. “He may be held out of practice for a day or two, but it will not affect the next game,” Rashid said.
The Vikings next take on a strong Carroll University team at home Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Men’s soccer battles to a scoreless tie in Illinois
