MANKATO, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw Wednesday evening at Bethany Lutheran in non-conference action. The Gusties move to 2-0-2 on the season, while the Vikings are now 2-0-1.
Gustavus put early pressure on the Vikings with a couple shots on goal within the first six minutes and the pressure paid off at the 12:47 mark as Owen Johnson (Jr., Apple Valley) scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Jakob Foss (Jr., Greencastle, Ind.).
A number of fouls were called on both teams over the ensuing 20 minutes of play leading up to a foul on the Gusties that resulted in a penalty kick goal for the Vikings at the 33:34 mark. It was the first goal allowed this season by Wesley Sanders (Sr., Urbandale, Iowa), who is fresh off a MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honor. The Gustie defense continued to impress as Sanders faced only one shot on goal with the penalty kick.
The Gusties outshot the Vikings 7-3 in the first half and 9-5 in the game, but were unable to score the game-winner. Each team had one yellow card in a physical matchup.
“We lost the set-piece battle today,” Head Coach Tudor Flintham said. “Giving one shot in the entire game, which was a penalty, is really frustrating. But, those are the margins and we did it to ourselves. One moment where our focus wasn’t correct and we got punished for it. On the other side of it, we had 11 corners and numerous delivery opportunities where the cross just wasn’t dangerous enough, or the run wasn’t made aggressively.