LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The successful shot that the Bellarmine University men's soccer team couldn't quite come up with Friday in the second half against McKendree was delivered by
Beau Laufer on Sunday.
The junior midfielder sank the go-ahead goal just minutes after Illinois Springfield tied it up, and the Knights made it stand in a 2-1 victory over the Prairie Stars in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
Bellarmine (3-2, 1-1 GLVC) was coming off a disappointing 1-0 loss at McKendree in which the Knights controlled the second half and got off a flurry of shots — including seven in the final 12 minutes — to no avail. BU would not come away distraught against the Prairie Stars (2-2, 0-2) after owning a 10-4 advantage in shots in the second half.
"The guys had a great response to the game on Friday," BU Coach
Tim Chastonay said. "They worked so hard on Friday and came away with no goals, so we really needed this game. I thought we showed some solid improvement this week, and it was good to get a result."
Following a goal by Bellarmine sophomore midfielder
Callum Southern in the first half, UIS tied the game at 1-1 in the 62nd minute after Kanye Sayon slid a pass to Dylan Stockman during a scramble in the box following a throw-in, and Stockman slotted the ball inside the near post.
It didn't take long for Bellarmine to respond. In the 66th minute, sophomore defender
Mike Albes lofted a pass from the left side of the box to Laufer in the center. Laufer drilled a shot from 15 yards out inside the right post for a 2-1 lead. It was Laufer's second goal of the season, and his second game-winner of the week.
The Knights struck relatively early in the first half. From the right side of the box, sophomore forward
Nathan Jones made a cross to Southern, who buried his first goal of the season in the 12th minute. It was one of 18 total shots for BU, while UIS totaled eight.
Bellarmine freshman goalkeeper
Zach Pogue registered two saves and moved to 3-1. Tommy Geile had two saves for UIS.
Bellarmine will host Drury at 6:30 p.m. (ET) on Friday.
"The guys will need to build off of this and work hard this week for a really hard home weekend coming up," Chastonay said.
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