Two goals for Mueller in Dutch men’s soccer defeat

PELLA — Central College men’s soccer forward Brant Mueller (senior, Bettendorf) added two more goals to his season total in a 4-2 losing effort against Luther College Saturday afternoon.

Mueller tallied goals No. 5 and 6 of the season for the Dutch (2-5-0, 0-1-0 American Rivers Conference) against the Nose (5-3-0, 1-0-0 conference). He scored the first goal of the match in the second minute and then added a header in the 54th.

“Brant continued to lead the line as you hope your captain and striker would do,” coach Garry Laidlaw said. “He scored two great goals and earned a penalty. He had a truly inspirational performance.”

Defender Tim Shicky (freshman, Peoria, Ariz., Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.)) was credited for an assist on the second goal.

Eleven of Central’s 12 shot attempts were on frame, including a first half penalty kick that was saved by the Norse keeper. After Mueller leveled the game at 2-2, Luther added pair of goals in the second half to seal the win.

“I’m very proud of the effort our team gave under difficult circumstances,” Laidlaw said. “We played tough today against a very good team. Anytime you can come here and score two goals, you’d like to think you could get a results but a couple of errors at our end proved costly.”

Goalkeeper John Foster (sophomore, Lee’s Summit, Mo., North HS) took the loss in goal and added eight more saves to his season total.

Central is off until Friday when it travels to Saint Peter, Minnesota for a non-conference match with Gustavus Adolphus College. The Gusties were ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 poll last week and were still receiving votes this week.