The Men’s soccer team faced a difficult test last Saturday when they hosted Augsburg in what proved to be a tense physical matchup between the conference rivals.
The game appeared to be headed for overtime after Augsburg tied the match up at one apiece with just minutes remaining, but Junior Midfielder Gabe Steinborn netted his third and biggest goal of the year with just 42 seconds left off of a rebound, giving Gustavus a 2-1 victory.
“The very impressive David Lilly made a lung-busting run with the ball, which was followed by a consummately calm finish by the stylish Gabe Steinborn,” Head Coach Mike Middleton said.
“We’ve had some hard-fought games with Augsburg over the years, and we knew how important this game was for us,” Senior Defenseman Ben Ceder said. “Everyone was really dialed in and eager to play.”
Gustavus got on the board first thanks to a quick strike by First-year phenom Zach Brown in the 13th minute of the match. This marked the tenth time in which Brown found the back of the net this year and he currently leads the team in goals scored.
From there Gustavus had several opportunities but Augsburg wasn’t quite ready to say die.
“Zach Brown scored a lovely goal in the first half—that would have graced any game— and we had a number of chances to put the game to bed, but just couldn’t find the net,” Middleton said.
Augsburg had been threatening and putting pressure on Gustavus for much of the second half, and their persistence paid off with just four minutes remaining in the second half when Sherif Soud netted a header off of a free kick by Mathias Macody Lund. The foul that lead to the free kick by Augsburg was the ninth Gustavus infraction of the game.
“Unfortunately, an inevitable mistake happened with a few minutes to go making it a tie game from a set-play,” Middleton said of the late Augsburg goal.
“Once they scored, they seemed to take their foot off the gas a little bit and dropped back,” Ceder said. “I think we felt all along that we were getting good opportunities throughout the game and we knew that we could come up with another goal. We’re not a team that is satisfied with a tie, so the goal came as a result of guys stepping up and providing a spark for the team right when we needed it.”
The game remained tied at one for all of three minutes before First-year Midfielder David Lilly sent a hard shot that ricocheted off the Augsburg goalie and was picked up and blasted in by Steinborn.
As of last week, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) ranked the Gustie Men at 13th in the nation, and Augsburg was a huge challenge as the Auggies were ranked 21st by the NSCAA.
“As far as the national rankings go, we do look at them. It’s exciting to be ranked highly and we take pride in it,” Ceder said. “I think we also realize that we are ranked highly as a result of high quality of play, and we know that rankings mean nothing once the game starts if we are not willing to go out on the field and put forth our best effort.”
After the win over Augsburg, the Gusties are tied with Carlton for the lead in the MIAC with a conference record of 6-1-1 and an overall record of 13-1-1. Gustavus moved into the top ten, ranked 9th in the nation by D3Soccer.com.
Gustavus travels to face St. Thomas on Oct. 22, and their final home game of the year will be the regular season finale against Macalaster on the Oct. 29.