Central upends top-10 men’s soccer opponent
DECORAH — Opening up the American Rivers Conference season with a bang, the Central College men’s soccer team defeated No. 8 Luther College 2-1 Saturday night.
The Dutch (9-1-1, 1-0-0 A-R-C) got their first win over Luther (6-2-1, 0-1-1 A-R-C) since 2012 and first win in Decorah since 2010.
“You don’t win games like that without the entire team digging in,” coach Garry Laidlaw said. “I have to credit every player who had minutes today and did their part.”
Forward Charlie Pritchard (freshman, Ankeny) tallied both goals for the Dutch, striking in the sixth and 23rd minutes. Midfielder Nick Ashton (freshman, Ankeny Centennial HS) provided an assist on the first goal.
“Charlie continues to get the job done for us,” Laidlaw said. “I thought he showed great composure on both of his finishes.”
Despite outshooting Central 14-7, Luther’s only score was an own goal. Laidlaw praised his starting back line of Brant Mueller (sophomore, Bettendorf), Landon Daniels (senior, Webster City), Taylor Petkovich (senior, Litteton, Colo., Heritage HS) and Joel Collett (junior, Walford, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) after the gane.
“I thought we defended extremely well, especially those four,” he said. “Later in the game when they started to push, we had to dig in and defend a little bit deeper.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Mathys (senior, Elburn, Ill., Kaneland HS) also made four saves.
The victory comes on the heels of Central’s first defeat of the season, a 2-1 decision at Carleton College (Minn.) on Tuesday.
“The team was pretty disappointed with what we felt was only one good half against Carleton,” Laidlaw said. “We need we needed to start better and play a more complete game today and I think we came closer to it today.”
The road doesn’t get any easier for Central as No. 13 Loras College comes to Pella next Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. match at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex.
“We’re in a conference that’s doing really well right now,” Laidlaw said. “I think it’s going to be like this game in and game out the rest of the year.”
