Dominant Second Half Fuels Men’s Soccer Victory

WATERTOWN, Wis. – The Eureka men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals in the second half against Maranatha Baptist, securing a 5-4 win. 

The Red Devils struggled early in the match, finding themselves down by two goals just under 20 minutes in. However, Eureka responded with 2 goals of their own within the next 10 minutes. Senior Jacob Russow (Streator, Ill./Streator) scored the first goal in the 24^th minute with a left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box, finding the upper right corner of the net. In the 30^th minute, Joyce Kabesa (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) scored his first goal for the Red Devils with a long-range effort that struck the post before going in. Despite the comeback, the Red Devils couldn't maintain their momentum and conceded two more goals before halftime, going into the break 4-2. 

In the second half, Eureka looked like a completely different team. Just under 4 minutes into the second half, Michael DeCarlo (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) reduced the deficit to one with a shot tucked into the bottom corner. Five minutes later, DeCarlo set up freshman Pascal Calonges (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township), who scored his first collegiate goal to tie the game at 4-4. In the 58^th minute, Calonges scored again with a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner, which turned out to be the winning goal.

The Red Devils outshot the Sabercats 32-11 and recorded 20 shots on target, compared to 9 for Maranatha Baptist. Freshman goalkeeper Kohle Andrakowicz (Elgin Okla./Elgin) made 4 saves for Eureka.

UP NEXT

The Red Devils return home to play Ripon on Saturday, Sep. 21 at 2:00 p.m.