ASHLAND, WI (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's soccer team took to the road on Thursday as they traveled to Northland College and looked to continue their spectacular start to their 2022 season. After a dominant first half, the Blugolds opened the floodgates in the second half for a 4-0 road victory.
A clear sense of momentum went in favor of the visitor's as they outshot the Northland Lumberjacks 5-1 and found themselves with 11 corners in the opening 45 minutes. Despite a strong offensive push, UW-Eau Claire found their first tally late in the half as Sam Lynch (Jr. – Verona, WI) sent a header to the opposite corner off a corner from Porter Ball (Jr. – Minneapolis, MN/Academy of Holy Angels) for a 1-0 lead before halftime.
The second half was a sight to see as the Blugolds added three more goals less than two minutes apart to seal the victory. The goal party started with Cooper Roberts (So. – Apple Valley, MN) putting away a corner kick on the far post in the 65th to extend the lead. Carter Thiesfeld (So. – Forest Lake, MN) got himself on the board just 62 seconds later with a rocket of a shot from outside the 18-yard box to the bottom right corner to make it 3-0. Veeti Penttinen (Helsinki, Finland/Lautasaaren yhteiskoulu) tallied the final mark just 46 seconds later finishing a pass from Roberts to seal the 4-0 victory.
Mark Belknap (So. – Anoka, MN) earned his second win and first shutout of the season with two saves on two shots to improve to 2-0 on the year.
The Blugolds (4-0) will be back on the road on Sunday, September 11th when they travel to Iowa for an afternoon matchup against Grinnell College at 2PM
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
