Riverland men's soccer traveled to Worthington on Wednesday for an away match with Minnesota West, the only team in the conference who had beaten the Blue Devils so far this season. And Riverland was able to avenge that earlier loss, coming home with a 2-1 victory.
Things looked a bit ragged in the first half, and the only goal before halftime was scored by Minnesota West, about midway through the half. A miscommunication at the back led to the opportunity for the Bluejays to grab the lead. They would take that 1-0 lead into halftime, just as they had in Austin a few weeks ago.
Unlike the last game, however, this time it was Riverland who would score the next goal. A steal and fine solo run in the 65th minute by Nick Asmus (Austin, MN) was capped off by a great goal, his third of the season, drawing the score at 1-1. And just six minutes later, the game-winner came from an unlikely source, as defender Abdoul Mohamman (Lome, Togo), playing at a wing position, got ahold of a nice pass from Poe Reh (Austin, MN) and sent it past the Bluejays goalkeeper, giving Riverland a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Devils were able to hold that lead through the rest of the second half, as good defending and another strong goalkeeping performance from Camden Willliams (Rochester, MN) kept Minnesota West from grabbing a second goal. The team headed back to Austin with the win and took their record to 5-1-1 in the conference and 6-3-2 overall.
"This is a tough part of the season, and we've been missing some key players the past few games due to injuries and yellow card accumulations," said Riverland head men's soccer coach Frank Spaeth. "We've had to play some guys who haven't gotten a ton of minutes this season, while also asking others to play in positions they haven't been playing in before. The team has stepped up and put in some strong performances, despite the challenges."
The Blue Devils are in action next on Sunday, October 13, as they welcome Alexandria Tech to Austin for the final conference match of the regular season. It's a big one, too, as the outcome will determine the conference champion and the top spot in the Region XIII tournament later this month. Kickoff is at 3:00 PM at Wescott Field in Austin.
