DECORAH, Iowa. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team took a 3-1 win over No. 5 ranked Luther College in a Saturday afternoon contest. With the win, the Gusties move to 2-2 on the season.
“We went in feeling like it was the battle of the #1 seeds in the North. Luther are a great team- obviously you’ve got to be very strong to be ranked #5 in the country,” said Head Coach Tudor Flintham “But we also know that we are capable of beating any team in the country when we are fully on. The guys took on the halftime messaging perfectly, and honestly those adjustments in mentality and tactics meant we controlled the second half. It looked pretty much exactly how we wanted it to.”
Both teams dialed it in on defense as the match remained scoreless for the majority of the first half. The Norse were able to get on the board first with a shot to the lower left corner. Eight minutes later the Gusties retaliated when Otis Anderson (Jr., Minneapolis) found Raphael Cattelin (Jr., Edina) with a header 18 feet out, over the Luther goalkeeper. Gustavus outshot Luther 5-3 as the first half ended 1-1.
The Gusties entered the second half with high energy after Cattelin’s equalizer and used the momentum to dominate. Twenty-five minutes into frame two, Scott Heinen (Sr., Aurora, Ill.) delivered on a free kick to Anderson who headed it to the top left corner of the net for a 2-1 Gustavus lead.
To put the game out of reach for the fifth ranked team in the nation, Cole Schwartz (Sr., Jakarta, Indonesia) made a break away dribbling past Norse defenders with a pass to Cattelin who deked out the Luther goalkeeper at the front of the box to make an easy goal in the 3-1 win.
The Gusties outshot the Norse 11-5, Egan Bedwell (Fy., Milwaukee, Wis.) was credited with the win making two saves and allowing one goal.
“We are still mending from a lot of injuries we’ve had in preseason and our early games. But we are slowly healing and to knock off the #5 team in the country with a full squad effort, is obviously great for the overall team confidence, and also hopefully a reminder of just how far this team can go when we heal up, and if we can stay focused, humble, and process orientated.”
The Gusties are back in action for their home opener on Sunday when they host St. Norbert with a 3 p.m. kick off.