Riverland men's soccer traveled up to Proctor, Minnesota, near Duluth, on Sunday for a conference contest with Lake Superior College, coming away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory to start their conference season 2-0.
It wasn't clear sailing for the Blue Devils. Already missing two regular starting defenders due to injury and work commitments, a third had to pull out of the game after warm-ups as he was also fighting an injury. But a makeshift defense in front of Riverland goalkeeper Camden Williams (So./Rochester, MN) did a solid job, keeping Lake Superior from having many good looks at the net and holding the opponents to just one goal.
That goal happened midway through the first half, against the run of play, as Lake Superior's Kye Marsden slipped a ball past Williams in the 25th minute to give the IceHawks a 1-0 lead. Lake Superior gained confidence after the goal and continued to raise their game. That was halted, however, when Lake Superior's Caetano Alves-Da-Sil picked up two quick yellow cards and was dismissed from the contest in the 36th minute.
Despite having a man advantage, Riverland struggled to find its rhythm offensively and the Blue Devils found themselves down 1-0 at halftime.
The visitors brought more energy into the start of the second half and got their reward shortly after the restart. Midfielder Alex Ulrich (So./Owatonna, MN) was fouled in the Lake Superior box and Tristin Nosbisch (Fr./Mount Vernon, IA) stepped up to bury the resulting penalty kick, scoring his first collegiate goal.
The rest of the second half was more gritty than pretty for Riverland, as they sought to slowly wear down 10-man Lake Superior. And their grit finally paid off as Ulrich picked up a loose bouncing ball at the top of the 18-yard-box and lashed home a powerful volley to score the winner in the 82nd minute. It was Ulrich's second game-winner in four days, as he also had the winning goal against Anoka-Ramsey last Wednesday in a 2-1 victory. Williams gave up just the lone goal, making four saves along the way and lowering his conference-leading goals against average to 1.28.
"We certainly weren't at our best on Sunday afternoon," said Riverland coach Frank Spaeth. "I'm not sure if it was the long trip, a few missing players, or something else, but we are capable of playing better soccer. But with that being said, a win is a win, and we battled and suffered to achieve this one. We'll look to keep improving, hope to get a few of our injured players back, and prepare for Minnesota West on Wednesday."
The win took the Blue Devils to an overall record of 3-1, and a 2-0 conference record. For Lake Superior, it was a second 2-1 conference loss in three days, following the same score line against Anoka-Ramsey on Friday night. The loss drops them to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference. The Blue Devils next welcome Minnesota West to Austin on Wednesday night, with a 7 PM kickoff at Wescott field.
