Men's Soccer 10/8/08 -- Gustavus 1, Augsburg 0
GAME BOXSCORE | AUGSBURG SEASON STATISTICS
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MINNEAPOLIS (10/8/08) -- Ben Ikeda (SO, Maple Grove, Minn.) scored the only goal of the game on a long shot in the 77th minute, giving Gustavus Adolphus College a 1-0 win over host Augsburg College in a matchup of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer playoff contenders on Wednesday night at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.
Gaining the ball roughly 30 yards away from the goal on the left side, Ikeda lifted a shot that went over the head of Augsburg goalkeeper Pascaul Venter (JR, Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS) -- the lone shot-on-goal of the game for the Gusties (9-2-1 overall, 5-1-0 MIAC).
Augsburg (6-2-3 overall, 4-2-0 MIAC) saw its four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2) snapped with the loss, despite controlling the tempo of the game most of the way. Augsburg outshot Gustavus by a 21-8 margin and had eight corner kicks to Gustavus' three. Gustavus goalkeeper Luke Strom (SO, Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) had three saves to pick up the win.
"This can be a cruel game -- and tonight it felt extremely cruel," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker. "We failed to clean up our chances, specifically getting on the end of free services inside six yards. Gustavus smacks one from 35 yards out and we relive our loss at St. Thomas. We must stop this from happening Saturday against the top team in the MIAC. It's so disappointing to leave this game without points."
Augsburg had several chances to score in the second half -- a long shot by Lucas Ingram (JR, Woodbury, Minn.) that went wide in the 71st minute, a shot by Ryley Teske (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Lutheran HS) that was blocked a minute later, a header by #D.J. Wendell# (JR, Princeton, Minn./Charles M. Russell (Mont.) HS) that was high in the 72nd minute, and three close shots by Brian Jungwirth (SR, Bloomington, Minn./Bloomington Lutheran HS) in the final 15 minutes -- including one that was knocked away by Strom on a close play in the 73rd minute.
"Ryley Teske played well for us today," Holker said. "Alex Hildebrandt was strong as always, but we need to make sure he gets chances at goal. Gustavus did a good job today of denying him those opportunities. Ryan Sorensen (JR, Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS) got back into some action for the first time in two weeks and did well. We will continue to protect him in training, but expect him to compete throughout the rest of the year."
Jungwirth, Wendell, Ingram and James See (SR, Richfield, Minn./Holy Angels HS) had three shots each for the Auggies.
Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (10/11) at 1 p.m., as Augsburg plays at league-leader Carleton and Gustavus hosts Bethel.
