Central outshoots Truman but suffers setback

Central College

PELLA—Despite a 19-15 shot advantage, the Central College men’s soccer team struggled to find the back of the net as NCAA Division II Truman State University (Mo.) edged the Dutch 2-1 Saturday afternoon.

Central tallied the first score when the Bulldogs recorded an own goal in the 15th minute. Truman tied the game 1-1 in the 19th minute and scored the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute.

“It was a great battle,” coach Garry Laidlaw said. “We were disappointed in the way we conceded the first goal and up until that time we felt on top of the game. But then we fell back on our heels and defended poorly to let them back in. Credit to their striker, he had a fantastic shot for the game-winner.”

Midfielder Jonathan Schroeder (senior, St. Charles, Ill., North HS) led Central’s offense with eight shots while senior Garrett Fooshee (defender, Derby, Kan.) had three. Goalkeeper David Ziemann (senior, Van Meter) played the full 90 minutes and had four saves.

“Ziemann did a superb job,” Laidlaw said. “And Brandon Bautista (midfielder, junior, St. Charles, Ill., North HS) had his best game of the season. He’s been fighting his game recently and we had the best of him tonight. Lots of players did well and I’m proud of the way we competed. We played a good team toe-to-toe.”

Central (4-3 overall) meets William Penn at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Oskaloosa. The Dutch played the Statesmen (1-4-1 overall) earlier this year in a preseason scrimmage.

“We’re somewhat familiar with William Penn and we expect another tough match,” Laidlaw said. “It’s an opportunity to find out who we are before going into Iowa Conference play.”