PARKSIDE 2, QUINCY 1
Men's soccer started their season off right with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Quincy Thursday afternoon at Wood Road Field. The Rangers two goals came from junior Tode Atlija and redshirt-junior Jorge Garcia. It was Atlija's first game for Parkside, as a recent transfer from Marquette. Quincy came close to equalizing late, but the Rangers tightened up at the back and secured the victory.
 
HEAR FROM COACH ZITZKE
"Quincy is a good team that we used to be big conference rivals with, and nothing has changed in that way," said head coach Jason Zitzke. "It felt good to score the opening goal in front of our home fans, and it felt like we had a little momentum after, but they responded right away."
"After we scored our second goal, we had a penalty kick that the keeper made a tremendous save on to keep them in the game. After that they really put the pressure on us for the last ten minutes, but I thought the guys did a good job dealing with that," Zitzke added. "Some of the guys that stood out to me were the guys off the bench, Dejan Rokvic, Mile Sever, Marco Fabiano, guys that came in for some injured players. They had to come in with no time to warm up, and keep, even elevate the pace of the game. Then, the game winner by Jorge Garcia, this year he's moved to a totally different position and really came up big for us. On one of Quincy's late attacks Juan made a pretty great save, but the ball popped out in front of goal and Henry Bruer cleared it. That was a huge moment where they could have tied it up but we held strong."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Parkside got on the board early as newcomer Atlija scored off a free kick from senior Burim Huseini in the 10^th minute. The lead didn't last, as Quincy equalized in the 13^th minute when Spencer Van Nest slotted the ball into the right corner of the goal. The teams battled through the half, but went to the break tied at one. The Rangers set the tone in the second half when Garcia netted a goal from outside the box in the 54^th minute to go up 2-1. Parkside had a chance to extend their lead when they were awarded a penalty kick after a Quincy player was called for a handball in the box. Redshirt-senior Leki Prpa stepped up to take the penalty, but Quincy goalkeeper Adam Whybrow made a diving save to keep the difference at one. With the game winding down, the Hawks put a freekick on Gonzalez' net, but he fully extended to keep the ball out. Off Gonzalez' gloves, the ball rolled in front of goal before sophomore Henry Bruer cleared it to thwart Quincy's last real chance.
 
STATWORTHY
Atlija led the Rangers on the day with a goal and an assist. Garcia scored the other goal, while Huseini provided the assist. Gonzalez made three saves on the day.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers are staying home for the weekend as they will host Lewis this Sunday, Sept. 8 at 2:30 p.m. Following, Parkside will hit the road to face Illinois Springfield on Thursday, Sept. 12 at noon.