CANTON, Ohio - The Malone University men's soccer team fell to Northwood University in a 2-1 thriller on Saturday evening. The Pioneers fall to 2-11-3 on the year while the Timberwolves improve to 3-11-2. In the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Malone drops to 1-9-3 as Northwood moves to 3-9-1.
The Timberwolves secured an early 1-0 lead at 2:22 into the match. Malone's offense was looking for an answer with shots from
Valentino Makhubele and
Christopher Onye later in the half, but could not come up with one. On a free kick at 27:54,
Drew Kapsak launched the ball to the upper right corner to tie the game 1-1 for the Pioneers. Both teams battled it out through the remaining time and went into halftime with a tied match. Malone's offense was looking to continue its offensive pace as it recorded six shots going into halftime.
The second half of the match was a tough on Malone's defense, as they saw 12 shots from the Timberwolves.
Sean Waweru had an opportunity to give the Pioneers the lead in the 52nd minute, but was unsuccessful. Off a breakaway pass, Onye saw the opportunity to get on the board, but Northwood's goalkeeper was able to make the stop at 84:52. Not long after,
Julius Eckmann had a late chance to break the tie in the 88th minute, but was stopped by the Timberwolves keeper. In the last two minutes of the match, Northwood found a goal on a counterattack to take a 2-1 lead and that would hold until the final whistle.
Kapsak was the lone scorer for the Pioneers tonight, recording his first career goal for Malone.
Ryan Ziskowski, Camden Albertson, Andrew Walubengo, and Makhubele stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. Goalkeeper
Sam Cipriano finished the day with one save in the first half.
Roman Sigafoos (1-7-3) took over as the goalkeeper in the second half with two saves.
The Malone University men's soccer team will look to wrap up its season on Tuesday, October 27, as they host cross-town rival Walsh University for its last game of the season. Kickoff is at 3:00 P.M.
