Box Score

The UW-Parkside men's soccer team stayed perfect at home on the season with an 8-1 rout of Kentucky Wesleyan College on Friday. The Rangers scored 39 seconds into the match and never looked back in getting back to .500 on the GLVC season at 4-4-1. They are now 6-0 at Wood Road Field.

“In this conference you have to take care of your home field advantage,” said head coach Jason Zitzke. “Everyone is good at their place so you've really got to protect your home.”

Things got started quickly for Parkside when Ryan Crane created a turnover near the Panthers goal box. He was able to right himself after the slide tackle and push the ball past keeper Nick Snyder to give the Rangers a quick lead.
“Our starters were in sync today,” said Zitzke. “They were all on the same page and got us off to a great start.”

The Rangers controlled play for the first 30 minutes of the half and cashed in a few more times to take command.
Jon Gourlay added to the lead with a pair of goals in the match's first 14 minutes. The first at 6:59 came from Niklas Boedts and Spencer Bursten to make it 2-0. He scored again at 13:16 on a lead pass from Crane. Tim Thao had a hand in the play as well for the assist and a three goal lead.

Kentucky Wesleyan was able to turn the tables and took momentum over the final 15 minutes of the half. Ryan Brewer capitalized on the Rangers failure to clear the ball and came up with a beautiful chip that got over the head of Ryan Huftalin and found the net to cut the lead to 3-1.

The Panthers nearly got another one a few minutes later but Huftalin was able to make a leaping touch to punch it off the post. The ball was eventually cleared and the Rangers were able to take a two-goal lead to the break. Despite outshooting KWC 11-3, the Panthers had seized some of the momentum.

“Hufalin made a great play or it really easily could have been 3-2,” said Zitzke. “We've put  so much undue pressure on our defense this season. Once you get that opportunity to get some breathing room you've got to take advantage. The second half we finally did that.”

The Rangers answered the bell in the second half and came out firing. Niklas Boedts hammered one in from about 18 yards away just 2:56 into the period to make it 4-1. Boedts used some nifty footwork around a couple of defenders to get some space and finish.

Collin Monahan then got in on the action with two goals in just 1:48 of play. Both came off the foot of Boedts from similar spots on the field. The second one found the net thanks in part to a deflection and it was quickly 6-1.

The Rangers finished it up with a couple of late goals. Marc Glidden got his first career in the 77th minute with a nice 1-on-1 move. Jorge Ontiveros then scored his second goal of the season in the 85th minute as he finished off a ball knocked out by the keeper in front of the net.

Parkside dominated the second half holding the Panthers without a shot compared to 15 of their own. Nick Huftalin got the win in net allowing the one goal to go with one save. The Rangers have allowed just nine goals all season.

“I think overall our organization has been the most important thing for us defensively,” said assistant coach Alan Osmonovich who Zitzke credits with the defense's success this year. “Dropping when we're supposed to drop, stepping when we're supposed to step … that's been the key to our unit.”

The Rangers will look to keep their home dominance going when the welcome in Southern Indiana on Sunday afternoon. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. You can follow the action with our live audio feed via www.gatewaysportsweb.org.