Central men’s soccer team led by freshman in win

PELLA- Freshman Nate Lempe (Newton) had a brace and added an assist when Central College men’s soccer team (2-1) defeated Eureka (Ill.) 3-0 on September 7, 2024.

“(Lempe) is playing a new position,” said coach Garry Laidlaw. “We believe he is just scratching the surface. For him to get two goals when we know that it speaks highly of him. He is the kind of kid that will continue to work hard, but we are happy for him.”

The Dutch defense was stout only allowing two shots with neither of them being on the goal, while the offense had 22 shots with 11 on goal.

I was pleased with our performance today,” Laidlaw said. “I thought we moved the ball well, and I was happy that we didn’t settle when we got up 1-0. We were trying to get that second goal and once that happened then we settled down and gave other guys an opportunity to play.”

Lempe got his assist from a throw in when he found the right foot of Spencer Taylor (junior, Norwalk) who scored the third goal of the game, and it was his second goal of the season.

Jack Hillis (sophomore, Clive, Waukee) led the team with four shots and got on the score sheet when he picked up an assist on Lempe’s first goal of the game.

The Dutch return to the pitch Tuesday Sept. 10 when they travel to Grinnell at 4:30 p.m.