PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University men's soccer team endured for a hard-earned tie but was minutes from even better before settling for a 2-2 draw against Concordia University Wisconsin Saturday afternoon at Concordia's Fitting Field.
The Muskies snapped another long losing streak against an opponent with their first tie against the Falcons since 2010, halting a 15-game losing streak to CUW. Lakeland also finished the NACC schedule with a 5-3-4 conference mark and is now 11-4-4 overall with a non-conference game against Ripon College coming up this Tuesday to close out the regular season.
The tie ensured the Muskies will be on the road in the quarterfinals of the NACC Tournament on Sunday, November 1. Lakeland (19 points) will be the No. 5, 6 or 7 seed in the tourney, and currently sits in fifth in the standings with both Benedictine University (18 points) and St. Norbert College (17 points) just behind and with one conference match left to play.
An own goal provided the final goal and a sour ending note for the Muskies, who played for more than 60 minutes of the match down a man but came back from an early deficit to take the lead early in the second half and hold it most of the final 45 minutes.
Lakeland tied the match just under four minutes into the second half.
Woodlens Frederic (
Fr.-Green Bay, Wis.) scored his eighth goal of the season while
Isai Gil (
Jr.-Beaumont, Calif.) posted his ninth assist, extending his school single-season record for assists.
The Muskies then took the lead in the 55th minute. Gil again did the early work, winning a ball near midfield and passing to
Jordan Davis-Troller (
Sr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) on a big run down the center of the field. Davis-Troller dribbled past a pair of defenders with speed and then with the left foot slipped a shot past CUW goalkeeper Logan Montgomery for his seventh goal of the season and a 2-1 lead.
Lakeland was a few minutes from a victory when Concordia's Eli Stone hit a cross into the box that went awry. A clear attempt by the Muskies instead went right at the goal, the ultimate bad luck going past goalkeeper
Ali Faiad (
Fr.-Alexandria, Egypt) and into the net to tie the game.
Concordia (3-11-2 overall, 2-8-1 NACC) did not get off another shot, finishing with a 26-8 advantage in shot attempts, including a 16-3 bulge in shots on goal. Faiad made a season-high 14 saves, in good part because the Muskies played the final 61 1/2 minutes down a man after a red card for a high kick. CUW outshot Lakeland 19-5 from that point of the match.
Frederic paced the Muskies with three shot attempts.
Cris Maschio (
Sr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) added two shots.
Lakeland finishes the regular season on the road at Ripon Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
