SUPERIOR, Wis. -- An incredible goal from
Mizael Harris (SR, Happy Valley, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep HS) in the 27th minute gave the No. 10-ranked Augsburg University men's soccer team a 1-0 nonconference victory at the University of Wisconsin-Superior in a battle of regionally-ranked teams on Tuesday evening.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 1, Wisconsin-Superior 0
LOCATION: SCCU Stadium, Superior, Wis.
RECORDS: Augsburg 12-1-0 overall, UW-Superior 8-4-0 overall
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Harris scored his seventh goal of the season with a remarkable effort. The play began when a UW-Superior entry pass was deflected by
Christopher Plaza Alvarado (SO, New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS) to midfield.
Carver Tierney (SR, Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) then directed the ball forward past the Yellowjacket backfield. Harris beat a UW-Superior defender to the ball on a sprint, then made a series of moves in the 18-yard box, finally lifting a rising shot to the right side of the net.
• Augsburg held firm in the battle with one of its recent nonconference rivals, in a series where each of the last eight meetings have been decided by two goals or less. The Auggies outshot the Yellowjackets by a 20-16 margin, including a 10-5 advantage in shots on-goal.
• The Auggies also took advantage of their depth to claim the win, as 21 different players saw action in the game, with just goalkeeper
Christian Hodges (FY, New Albany, Ohio/Tree of Life Christian School) and defender
Jeffrey Richter (SR, Portland, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep HS) playing the full 90 minutes.
• Tierney had five shots in the game, with Harris recording four shots.
• Hodges had five saves to pick up his eighth shutout of the season. As a team, Augsburg now has nine shutouts in its 13 games, and has outscored its opponents by a 37-8 margin.
QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG COACH GREG HOLKER
• "That was a typical game against UW-Superior -- they are a strong team with really good players and a great team spirit, and are well coached and tough to beat. We needed a special moment from
Mizael Harris to get it done, and it was special. He is just coming back from injury so his minutes have been a bit limited, but he looked strong and felt good tonight -- that is a great sign for us moving forward."
• "The first half was a bit tricky for us to solve, as we were a little too impatient in possession and got pulled apart in the wide spaces, but the team adjusted well at the break and really put our foot on the ball to begin the second half. We created some really high-quality chances with some fun interplay. Unfortunately, we kept hitting it right into their GK. Of course, this created some stress at the end of the game as we had to deal with the chaos that Superior created when they threw everything at us."
• "It's good to be done with the nonconference season, and especially good to be done with this five-game road swing. We can't wait to get back home Saturday for MIAC play against Hamline, as we honor the 1975 MIAC Championship team."
FOR THE FOES
• Patrick Sessions had nine saves in goal for UW-Superior.
UP NEXT
• After five straight games on the road, Augsburg returns to Edor Nelson Field this Saturday (10/11) at 4:30 p.m., hosting Hamline University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.
