MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg University men's soccer team remained unbeaten on the early season by successfully out-dueling the University of Minnesota Morris in a 1-0 win on Friday evening at Edor Nelson Field.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 1, Minnesota Morris 0
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 3-0-0 overall, Minnesota Morris 0-4-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• After claiming a 7-0 win over Crown on Thursday night, Augsburg had to withstand a challenge from a physical Cougar squad on Friday.
• Though Augsburg dominated in the run of play, outshooting Minnesota Morris by a 7-2 margin in the first half -- en route to a 17-6 advantage in the game -- the contest remained scoreless at halftime. Minnesota Morris played a physical style, resulting in 21 fouls called on the Cougars, compared to 10 for Augsburg.
• The Auggies took the lead in the 50th minute, as Taylor Sullivan (JR, Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) tucked in a shot on the right corner of the goal for his first marker of the season. Emmanuel Egbujor (SR, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park HS) set up the goal with a drive to the lower left side of the penalty box, firing a service to Nick Zuchowski (FY, Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) in the center. Zuchowski slotted the ball to his right, finding Sullivan for the eventual game-winning shot.
• A stout defense helped Augsburg to maintain the advantage and thwart most of the Cougars' possession attempts. Daniel Hedstrom (JR, Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) and Hsinku Lay (SO, Maplewood, Minn./Roseville HS) played the full 90 minutes in the backfield, with Nick Vergara (JR, Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) playing 84 minutes.
• Zachary Berg (FY, Lakeville, Minn./Farmington HS) and Ethan Derks (FY, Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS) combined for the shutout win in goal for the second straight night. Berg had one save in the first half, and Derks had two saves in the second half.

FOR THE FOES
• Jake Peterson had six saves in goal for Minnesota-Morris.
• John Hoff had three shots, including two on-goal, for the Cougars.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG HEAD COACH GREG HOLKER
• "This was a good test against an organized, well-coached team. They had a plan and it posed questions for us that we struggled with until we could sort it out at halftime. Even with the changes we made, the game became more chaotic and we lost control of it a bit after we scored."
• "Zuchowski started the attack that led to our goal by springing Manni down the left edge. Manni was composed as he sent his service back to Z who didn't hit it cleanly, but he did hit it into the path of Sully for the lone goal. That was one of the really good moments in the game for us, as we showed some progress in the final third by getting players into the box."

UP NEXT
• Augsburg travels to face Wisconsin-Superior on Tuesday (9/11) at 7 p.m. The game will be played at Superior High School in Superior, Wis.