Rockford University scored four times in the first half, putting the Lakeland University men's soccer team in an early hole in a 5-1 loss Saturday night in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match at Taylor Field.
The Muskies saw their Senior Night dimmed when the Regents scored three times in the first 30 minutes, including an opening goal just 6 minutes, 6 seconds into the match. Lakeland got on the board once early in the second half but couldn't make a run further and dropped to 0-14 overall and 0-8 in the NACC.
Charles Apostolik (
Jr.-New Castle, Colo.) scored for the second straight match for the Muskies, scoring his fourth goal of the season just 2:35 into the second half.
Matt Seider (
So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) won a long punt by goalkeeper
Thomis Mannebach (
Sr.-Florence, Wis.) in Lakeland's offensive end, and he passed ahead to Apostolik, who outraced the goalkeeper to the ball and poked it past him and into the net to make the score 4-1.
The Muskies briefly threatened to score again over the next few minutes as Apostolik had a shot attempt blocked and
Josh Hogan (
Jr.-Urbana, Ill.) fired wide, but would then have few opportunities the rest of the way.
Dylan Lange (
Jr.-Geneva, Ill.) missed wide in the 62nd minute and
Garrett Duffin (
Jr.-Princeton, Ill.) headed a corner kick cross wide as well with 15 minutes left in what turned out to be the team's final best chance.
Rockford gained the upper hand with a strong start, scoring just over six minutes into the match when Luis Ortega cleaned up a ricochet off teammate Jose Cruz and Lakeland defender
Jesus Guzman (
So.-Plymouth, Wis.), driving it in from straight on 10 yards out for the opening goal.
The Regents scored again in the 21st minute when Alonzo Carrillo and Carlos Galvan executed a give and go in the corner after a corner kick, with Carrillo unleashing a laser from 20 yards out to make it 2-0. Cruz and Luis Raya also added goals in the first half as Rockford built a 4-0 lead.
The Regents outshot Lakeland 29-7, with Mannebach making nine saves. Apostolik led the Muskies with three shot attempts, including both shots on goal.
Lakeland is on the road for its final two regular season matches, including a trip to face Aurora University tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. in a rescheduled match postponed last Saturday due to lightning.
