Tigers hold tough, but come up short versus Broncos

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's soccer team hosted the preseason favorites to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference in Hastings College. Despite playing tough defense throughout and showing life down the stretch, it was not enough as Hastings defeated DWU, 2-1 Saturday at the Pepsi-Cola Soccer Complex.

 It did not look good early as the Broncos (1-0, 1-0 GPAC) scored right out of the gates in the first five minutes to take an early 1-0 advantage.

 Not only did the DWU defense anchor down, but the offense fired five shots off in the following 15 minutes. Hastings tallied 12 first-half shots, but the Tiger (1-2, 0-1 GPAC) defense proved to hold strong as they did not allow another goal with the score being 1-0 at halftime.

 The defense for DWU continued to play tough, along with Matthew Campbell (Duluth, Minn.) in the net. However, after 20 minutes of play in the second half, DWU conceded the second goal of the game.

 With just seven minutes to play, Ndrin Maloku (Prishtine, Albania) lined up a penalty kick that found the back of the net to give life to the Tigers. Although newfound life arose within the Tigers, time was not on their side as the game concluded before the tying goal was scored.

 Maloku recorded two shots and a goal, as Isaias Pio (Santa Cruz, Calif.) notched two shots as well. Campbell snagged nine saves on 11 shots, while DWU finished with six shots.

 The Tigers have 11 days off as they take on Dordt University at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Sioux Center, Iowa.