Illinois Wesleyan rallies past Central men’s soccer team

Central College

PELLA — A momentary defensive lapse was all Illinois Wesleyan needed to rally past the Central College men’s soccer team Saturday, 2-1.

The Dutch (2-6) bolted out of the gates with what coach Garry Laidlaw termed “a dream start,” as freshman forward Isaiah Mundell (Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) took a long ball from freshman midfielder Bryce Leonard (Williamsville, Ill.) just 32 seconds into the game.

“It was a great through ball and Isaiah tucked it away nicely,” Laidlaw said. “It was just the start we needed.”

But the Dutch yielded a goal on a tipped ball following a throw-in in the 37th minute.

“As has happened too many times, we gave them a gift,” Laidlaw said. “We allowed the ball to bounce in the box. It’s really disappointing the way we conceded that.”

Laidlaw said the Dutch rebounded with a solid second-half effort, but Illinois Wesleyan (5-5) got the winner in the 81st minute.

“You have to give credit to Illinois Wesleyan,” he said. “I thought they took over the midfield in the second half. They overran us a bit. That was a good goal on their part.”

There wasn’t much action around the net. Illinois Wesleyan outshot Central 11-7, with a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Connor Ginder (sophomore, Medford, Ore., North Medford HS) made his first collegiate start as the goalkeeper and recorded one save.

“Connor has been working hard and we wanted to reward him with a start,” Laidlaw said. “I was happy defensively. We limited them to three shots on goal. You’d take that going into a game any time.”

Four of Central’s six losses have been by one goal, yet Laidlaw remains encouraged.

“I feel like we’re playing well enough,” he said. “It’s not like we’re getting blown out.

“We continue to get production from our freshmen. It was great to see Isaiah get his first goal. He’s got a lot of potential and that goal could give him a real jolt of confidence.”

Laidlaw also likes the persistence he’s seeing.

“Credit to the players,” he said. “They’re not getting down. We’re getting good leadership.

“I think they understand the big picture and they’re remaining resilient. The conference season is still ahead and they know how close we are.”

Central takes on Augustana (Ill.) in the season’s final pre-Iowa Conference game Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field. The Vikings are 4-2 heading into a game with Westminster (Mo.) at Rock Island, Ill. Sunday. The Dutch were 2-1 overtime winners at Augustana last year and lead the all-time series 6-3.

“It’s usually pretty tight between us,” Laidlaw said. “We always enjoy having Coach (Brenton) Joseph here. We have a lot of respect for him and the way he runs his program.”

A video webcast and live stats of the contest will be available through the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.