Parkside 5, Purdue Northwest 3
Sunday's contest was a game of runs, with the first coming from the Rangers when they scored four first half goals. In the second half, Purdue Northwest put together a run of their own when they scored three unanswered goals to bring the score to 4-3. Being up only one, Parkside tightened up at the back and found another goal to extend the lead and end the game 5-3.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first two goals of the game came courtesy of junior forward Tode Atlija. Atlija's first goal came off a deflection from a Purdue Northwest defender, while the second came on a run in behind the defense. His two goals on the day puts him atop the Ranger leaderboard in goals with three on the year. The next goal of the game came from redshirt-sophomore Jack Mittelsteadt. Mittelsteadt came on as a sub and made an immediate impact when he got on the end of a Max Ludwig long ball and slotted it home to make the score 3-0. Parkside capped off the half with a fourth goal when redshirt-senior Jack Krenzien smashed home a ball that was loose in the box.
 
The second half was much different from the first as the Pride scored three unanswered goals with two of them coming from penalty kicks. The Rangers responded and put a fifth goal on the board when a flick from redshirt-sophomore Dejan Rokvic found senior Burim Huseini, who put in past the Purdue Northwest keeper.
 
HEAR FROM COACH ZITZKE
"It was definitely a tale of two halves," head coach Jason Zitzke said. "First half we came out with really good energy: winning tackles, movement off the ball, limiting touches offensively and playing the ball quickly with dangerous passes. We had good runs into the box and good finishing, and we put that all together to make a really nice first half. We came out for the second half doing the exact opposite of what we had talked about during halftime," Zitzke continued. "We might have taken our foot off the gas, but we have to commend Purdue Northwest. They came out with their own energy especially with being down in a difficult situation. They played with passion and heart and attacked with numbers and it was really impressive to see." 
 
"We saw some really good stuff which was encouraging to see, but we know there's a lot to work on," Zitzke concluded." We know we're capable of doing some great things, but we have to be consistent for the 90 minutes of the match. In a very difficult league to start off 2-0, we'll take it and move onto the next one."
 
STATWORTHY
Atlija led the attack for Parkside, scoring two goals. Others on the board were Mittelsteadt, Krenzien and Huseini. Ludwig also made a mark on the stat sheet with two assists on the day. Also recording assists for the Rangers was Leki Prpa, Stevi Krecak, and Dejan Rokvic.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers are hitting the road for a quick two-game trip, with the first game being against Davenport on Friday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. The team will then wrap up the trip when they take on Ashland on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1:30 p.m.