Box Score    

       There were some exciting moments down the stretch, but when the final horn sounded, the UW-Parkside men's soccer team had posted a 1-0 over visiting Southern Indiana at Wood Road Field Friday afternoon.

      The conquest by the Rangers elevates their record to 6-1-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Screaming Eagles slipped to 2-3-0 overall and 2-2-0 in league play.

     “Southern Indiana looked very well coached,” cited UW-Parkside associate head coach Jason Zitzke. “This is one of the most competitive teams that they have had in awhile.”

     The Rangers came into the contest with a 14-5-1 all-time record against the much-improved Eagles. UW-Parkside topped USI, 4-3, at Wood Road Field last season.

     The lone goal of the game came at 26:17. Cyril Simmons broke into a 50-yard sprint and tracked the ball down, passing it ahead to Johnson Thao, who did the rest by popping the ball into the back of the net. For Thao, it was his fifth goal of the season and his team leading 12th point.

     “That was an effort goal,” explained Zitzke. “Cyril made something happen and created that goal.”

     Jamie Lieberman posted the shutout in goal, but had plenty of defensive help.

     “Tim Thao, Jason Moxley, Dave Mercer, Matt Gloshen and Andrew Krenzien along with Jamie, were solid,” noted Zitzke. “Those guys were totally organized and controlled that zone of the field. Defensively, this is the first time we were totally solid for 90 minutes.”

     The Rangers had the batter of the play, with 24 shot attempts contrasted with 13 for the Screaming Eagles. The shot on goal count was 9-5 in favor of the winners.

     UW-Parkside will host Kentucky Wesleyan Sunday, Sept. 20, at 2:30 p.m. The Rangers defeated the Panthers, 5-0, last season and have come up on top in each of the last three seasons.