Parkside 4, Northwood 1
The Parkside men's soccer team cruised to victory in their GLIAC Quarterfinal matchup against the Northwood Timberwolves Sunday afternoon. They jumped out ahead with three first half goals, and scored a fourth in the second, before conceding in the 84^th minute. The Rangers have now won six straight games, and four straight GLIAC Tournament games dating back to last year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Parkside brought the intensity from the opening whistle. They recorded six of the game's opening eight shots, and were rewarded on their seventh. The opening goal was set up in the 17th minute by redshirt-junior Rade Novakovich and then redshirt-freshman Bryan Torres, who found senior Max Ludwig through on goal. Ludwig collected Torres' pass at the top of the 18-yard box, and calmly slotted it across the Northwood keeper. It wasn't long before the Rangers found another when Novakovich picked off an errant Timberwolves pass, and hit it past the keeper to make the score 2-0 in the 25^th minute. Parkside again extended their lead in the 31^st minute, this time from redshirt-freshman Osvaldo Sanchez Arellano, who got on the end of a loose ball in the Northwood box and blasted it into the net.
 
The second half started fairly slow until the Green & White added another in the 65^th minute. The goal was set up by a looping cross from Torres that found sophomore Edgar Heredia Victoria for a back-post header. The Timberwolves got on the board in the 84^th minute after they capitalized on a Parkside defensive giveaway near the top of the Ranger box.
 
HEAR FROM COACH ZITZKE
"I thought it was a really good performance from the team," said 10^th year head coach Jason Zitzke. "Offensively, everyone that played contributed, and defensively I thought we were very well organized for most of the game, outside of a small stretch in the second half. We were all excited to be back in tournament play, and are looking forward to our next match on Friday."
 
STATWORTHY
Four different Rangers got on the scoresheet, Ludwig, Novakovich, Sanchez Arellano, and Heredia Victoria. Parkside's second and third goals were unassisted, but Novakovich and Torres were each credited with two assists for Parkside's first and fourth goals. Junior Alexandre Durand got the start between the sticks, and finished with two saves.
 
The Green & White controlled a majority of Sunday's game, evidenced by the game's final shot count. Parkside finished with 30 shots, including 14 on goal, while Northwood had 13 and four on goal.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will hit the road and head to Saginaw Valley State for a GLIAC Semifinal matchup against Davenport on Friday, April 30, time is TBA. Davenport is the GLIAC No. 6 seed, and beat No. 3 Northern Michigan in a penalty shootout, 4-1 this afternoon.