COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – After starting its spring season with four exhibitions victories, the Gustavus men’s soccer team played its first official match Saturday at Saint John’s and came away with a thrilling 2-1 victory. The Gusties broke a 1-1 tie in the 86th minute to secure the victory and hand the Johnnies their first loss of the season (2-1).
“Overall, we are really happy as a staff,” Head Coach Tudor Flintham said. “The score line is tight but probably doesn’t tell you exactly how the game went. We felt like we created tons of chances and generally we played the game in the areas we wanted to.”
Nolan Garvin (Sr., Batavia, Ill.) scored the game’s first goal at the 10:30 mark unassisted. The Johnnies were able to answer in the 32nd minute and the score remained 1-1 at the half. The Gusties led the shot count 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes.
Forty-one minutes passed in the second half before Scott Heinen (Sr., Aurora, Ill.) tallied the game-winning goal with just four minutes left in regulation. The Gustie defense was on point, particularly in the second half as the visitors out-shot the Johnnies 11-1 in the final 45 minutes for a total of 18-3 in the game.
“The guys felt like we were cruising at 1-0 but that was probably part of the problems,” Flintham said. “SJU always stresses you out massively and this game is never straightforward. We made a bit of a mistake on a set play, which gave them big belief. But the half time message and adjustments were taken onboard perfectly and we are again really proud of the reaction. The second half we really looked like more of the team we should be.”
Gustavus also had 16 corner kick opportunities compared to just one for the Johnnies.
“Five contests and five wins is always nice,” Flintham said. “We obviously always want to win and that breeds confidence. But we are still a work in progress and our best is still yet to come.”
Gustavus hosts Bethel next Sunday, April 25, starting at 3 p.m.