Box Score

The UW-Parkside men's soccer team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 4-0 victory over Calumet College of St. Joseph on Wednesday evening at Wood Road Field. Jon Gourlay had two goals and an assist while Spencer Bursten added a goal and an assist to key the win. The Rangers open up Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Friday with a home contest against Saint Joseph's College.
 
“We've made good strides and gained some confidence since that Marquette scrimmage,” said head coach Jason Zitzke. “Every year is a new year but from last year I think we have a lot to prove as a team (in conference play). Historically we've always had very competitive matches with them so it should be a good match.”
 
The Rangers got on the board in the 14th minute when Bursten hooked up with Niklas Boedts on the game's first goal. Bursten's touch pass from the left side of the box to Boedts in the middle proved to be perfect as he was able to put it in the top right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
 
The game remained that way until the 30th minute when Ruben Torres executed a perfectly placed corner kick. Gourlay finished his third goal of the year on a header directly off of Torre's foot for a 2-0 lead which would hold up until halftime.

Despite the early lead Zitzke felt the Rangers lacked a little bit of the urgency they had on Saturday.
 
“The first half it seemed like everything we did we were a step slow or a little behind,” said Zitzke. “The second half our movement was better, our passing was better, our communication was better. I was happy with the way it ended.
 
Gourlay continued to stay hot offensively as he scored 2:16 into the second half benifiting a bit off a redirect. Tim Thao assisted with a nice quick touch pass giving Gourlay four goals in the season's first two games.
 
“A lot of it (with Jon) goes back to the spring,” said Zitzke. “He was one of those guys that worked really hard, his technique has been very good, and he's taking advantage of his opportunities.”
 
Bursten wrapped up the scoring with the help of Gourlay. In the 56^th minute the Rangers' pressure created a turnover that led to a give-and-go with Gourlay heading a pass to Bursten ahead of the defense. Bursten got one-on-one with the keeper and finished off his third goal of the year to ice the victory.
 
The Rangers will kick off with Saint Joseph's on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Wood Road Field. If you are unable to make it to the match you can follow the Live Blog on parksiderangers.com.