UWS Men Win in Overtime

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

 
Superior 1, Finlandia 0 (OT)

In the midst of a busy week of games, the UW-Superior men’s soccer team hoped to regain some swagger when they hit the road to take on Finlandia for their first WIAC Conference match of the 2014 season Tuesday afternoon.

The Lions weren’t in an accommodating mood however and pushed the Yellowjackets hard throughout, resulting in a scoreless draw requiring extra time to settle.

Thankfully for UW-Superior, sophomore Gio Rodriguez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Los Osos) came up with the deciding tally, scoring his fourth goal of the season at 99:14 of overtime to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 win in Houghton, Mich.

The victory upped UW-Superior’s overall record to 4-2 with key games against Augsburg and Luther fast approaching.  Finlandia meanwhile fell to 3-4 overall after dropping both teams’ conference opener.

UW-Superior controlled play for the most part in the opening half, out-shooting the Lions 13-6 for the frame, including a 6-2 edge in shots on goal.  Finlandia net minder Brandon Roeske proved up to the challenge, turning away all six shots to preserve a 0-0 draw heading to the intermission.

The Yellowjackets increased their intensity after halftime, holding the Lions without a shot on-goal in the second half while piling up an impressive 22-2 edge in attempts during the second half.

Behind Roeske, the Lions still managed to keep UW-Superior at bay, sending the game into extra time still deadlocked in a scoreless contest.

UW-Superior finally found the range when Rodriguez scored on an assist from junior John Little (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) just over nine minutes into overtime to pull out the victory for the Yellowjackets.

For the game, UW-Superior held a 38-8 edge in shots, including a commanding 17-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Rodriguez, Joey Gustafson (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), Chase Carey (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove), Jon Bucklew (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) and Little all had four shots on goal for UW-Superior.  Finlandia was led by Robert Hernandez with two shots.

Zach Harwerth (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) picked up the shutout in goal for the Yellowjackets with two saves while Roeske finished with 16 saves for the Lions.

UW-Superior returns home to host Augsburg at Yellowjacket Field on Thursday.  Opening kickoff against the Auggies is scheduled for 4 p.m.