Box Score
A physically larger University of Missouri-St. Louis men's soccer team came to UW-Parkside's Wood Road Field Friday afternoon and made their presence felt. The visiting Tritons scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of the game and locked down the Rangers the rest of the way in a 2-0 victory.
The loss was the Rangers' first of the season. The team is now 2-1-1 and 0-1-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
“They had some size and they played like the bigger team too,” said UW-Parkside associate head coach Jason Zitzke.
The Tritons got on the board in the 12th minute when Johnny O'Mara pumped the ball past Ranger netminder Ryan Onwukwe. The game-winner was assisted by Evan Schumaker. UMSL tacked on 8 minutes later when Shumaker scored one himself, assisted by Gino Valenti.
“We gave up two early goals because we were not communicating in the back,” explained Zitzke. “We needed to get organized earlier.”
UMSL fired five shots on goal. The Rangers were one better with six shots on net.
“We had too many serves directly at their goalkeeper,” commented Zitzke. “We didn't drive the ball low and hard at him.”
Adam Giesegh registered the shutout for the Tritons, who are now 2-1-0 overall and 1-1-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
The Rangers will have a quick turnaround, hosting Maryville Sunday at noon.
“We can't feel sorry for ourselves,” said Zitzke. “Instead, we have to use this in the learning process and learn quickly. There are no gimmies in this league; everyone is competitive.”
