MEN’S SOCCER

HU keeper Gabe Greenfield came up huge for the HU men’s soccer team Friday afternoon in his team’s 2-0 shootout victory over #RV Cardinal Stritch on day one of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.

After keeping the Wolves out of the net through regulation and two overtime periods to send the match to a shootout, the 6-0 junior blocked the Wolves’ first two PKs to perfectly set the stage for his team to advance.

A rattled Cardinal Stritch would hit crossbar on its next two shots meanwhile Caleb Sexton and Jake Erlandson each calmly blasted their PK back netting to cut the shootout short as HU made good on two of their three shots while the Wolves went 0-for-4 negating the need to continue.

While Greenfield’s heroics in the shootout was one for the record books, his teammates were in the trenches for 110 minutes to get it to that point. The Foresters not only shutout a Cardinal Stritch squad that came into the day averaging 2.5 goals per game, they also gave up just four shots on goal to a team that is used to logging more than twice that many.

“This was another gritty performance by the boys,” said Coach Lawson. “Cardinal Stritch definitely had some offensive weapons and their movement was dynamic but once again we got the job done defensively. It was a tremendous effort by our backline to neutralize their front three.

“I thought we also had some key performances that allowed us to be on the ball more. Jordan Morris’ play in the second half changed things up top for us. He gave us the much-needed ability to hold the ball up and link.”

Lawson also praised his team for how they responded in the shootout. “Our shooters showed remarkable confidence and composure, but Gabe stole the moment with his brilliant saves.

“It was incredible to witness. No one is more deserving – he’s got a great work rate, he competes and he’s never satisfied when he’s not at his best. He got us moving on to the next round.”

The Foresters (15-4-3) are back at it tomorrow at noon to face #10 Rio Grande. The stakes are high as the winner of tomorrow’s match advances to the NAIA National Championship Final Site in Irvine, California.