MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Milwaukee School of Engineering's Lachlan Ladd scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute and the Lakeland University men's soccer team saw the best season in program history end with a 3-1 loss Sunday afternoon in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament quarterfinals at MSOE's Viets Field.
The sixth-seeded Muskies were in a tie game late but came up short in their first appearance in the NACC Tournament in 17 years and finished the season with an 11-6-4 record. The third-seeded Raiders (11-4-4 overall) advanced to the tournament semifinals to face No. 2 seed Aurora University on Wednesday.
MSOE scored what turned out to be the winning goal with a quick attack started from near midfield. A long pass ahead up the right sideline went to Diego Gonzalo, who got past two Lakeland defenders and crossed a pass in front of the goal. The pass went just past the outstretched hands of Muskies goalkeeper
Ali Faiad (
Fr.-Alexandria, Egypt) to Ladd, who got to it just before another converging defender and headed it in with 11 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the match.
Lakeland pressured in the final minutes and had a number of excellent chances. Less than a minute after the Raiders went ahead,
Isai Gil (
Jr.-Beaumont, Calif.) received the ball in the middle of the box 15 yards out and hit a shot ticketed for inside the left post that MSOE reserve keeper Dean Schaefer made a diving stop of. Two minutes later it was
Angel Cortez (
Jr.-Elmwood Park, Ill.) with a shot on the ground that Schaefer had to make another dive to deflect away, and the Muskies followed with a pair of corner kicks that came up empty.
Lakeland pushed its back line forward in the final minutes, and the Raiders tacked on an insurance goal with 30 seconds left. A turnover near midfield resulted in a two-on-one, and Nico Picha shot from a sharp angle near the end line and scored to make it 3-1.
The Muskies came back after falling behind early in the game, tying it in the first half. MSOE opened the scoring just over six minutes in with a goal by Andrew Calderon heading in a cross to make it 1-0, but Lakeland tied it in the 36th minute.
Braedin Jacobson (
So.-Green Bay, Wis.) did the work to set it up by working through several defenders, first absorbing contact and then splitting a pair before passing to Cortez, who shot and scored from 20 yards out just past opening goalkeeper Christian Dershem to tie the game.
MSOE finished outshooting Lakeland 21-7, including 11-5 in the first half and 10-2 in the second half, when the Raiders played the final 30 minutes down after a red card to goalkeeper Dershem. The Muskies posted a 10-6 advantage in corner kicks, though, and both teams finished with five shots on goal.
Lakeland is now 0-4 all-time in the NACC Tournament, all four times playing as the No. 6 seed in the tournament and the last three times losing by identical 3-1 scores.
The Muskies finished the season with a school-record 11 wins, and their 51 goals scored in the season are tied with the 2008 team for most in a season in program history. The team's 37 assists also are a new school single-season record.
Individually, Lakeland furnished the top two single-season assist totals ever for the program, with Gil setting a new record with nine assists and
Austin Eigenberger-Vahsholtz (
Jr.-Grafton, Wis.) right behind with eight assists.
Jordan Davis-Troller (
Sr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) also finished his career with 24 goals and 13 assists for 61 points, putting him fourth in school history in all three categories.
