Simpson caps perfect week with win over Augustana

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Tyler Neumann scored the game-winning goal, assisted on another and the Simpson men's soccer team capped off a perfect week with a 2-1 win over Agustana (Ill.) on Sunday afternoon.

With the score tied 1-1 in the 56th minute, Neumann found the back of the net just minutes after Augustana came up with the equalizer. The freshman possessed the ball on a breakaway, used some nifty footwork to get around the goalkeeper and took advantage of the empty net.

"I think we took another step in the right direction today," head coach Rick Isaacson said. "It was encouraging to see us play well on back-to-back days."

After enduring a four-game losing streak, the Storm (7-4) went 3-0 this week with wins over Culver Stockton, Coe and Augustana.

Mike Flanagan put Simpson on the board in the 12th minute when he took a great cross from Neumann and buried it in the back of the net from five yards out.

Simpson outshot Augustana 16-11 and spent much of the second half in the attacking third of the field. The Storm put eight shots on goal and had a handful of opportunities to put the game out of reach, something Isaacson would like to see come to fruition.

"We are playing a better brand of soccer than we were prior to our trip to Arkansas over a week ago," he said. "Now the final piece is to become a more opportunistic team. We've got to do a better job of capitalizing once we create quality scoring chances."

Gabriel Brouillette scored the only goal of the game for the Vikings (3-4-1), who were 5-1-2 all-time against Simpson coming into the day.

Simpson returns to action Wednesday, Sept. 26 when it hosts Iowa Wesleyan at Buxton Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.