Comeback falls short, men's soccer falls to Wartburg

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson men's soccer team mounted a spirited comeback in the last 10 minutes, but it wasn't enough in a 4-3 loss to Wartburg on Saturday.

Anthony Ashbridge and Marcus Varnum led a late comeback, but three, second-half goals by the Storm (8-4, 0-1 Iowa Conference) were too-little, too-late.

"This was a difficult result to swallow," head coach Rick Isaacson said. "Wartburg has proven to be a strong team again this year, and we knew this match would be a tightly contested affair."

Zach Smith put the Knights (6-2-2, 1-0) on the board in the 38^th minute when he blocked goalkeeper Zach McEntee's attempt to clear a ball played back to him.

Wartburg took the 1-0 lead into halftime before Tyler Neumann put Simpson on the board just 28 seconds into the second half.

Then things went downhill for Simpson.

Dan Nadeau finished a cross from Kevin Krueger in the 52^nd minute and Zubeen Azari scored back-to-back goals as the Knights built a 4-1 lead.

But Simpson continued to push and got its second goal when Ashbridge went upper 90 from 25 yards out on the left wing in the 81^st minute. Varnum made it really interesting when he rebounded another Ashbridge attempt that goalkeeper Austin Boyke couldn't hold, making it 4-3 in the 85^th minute.

The Storm were unable to generate another dangerous opportunity in the final five minutes.

"We played well enough to win today, but Wartburg deserves credit," Isaacson said. "They were equally as good and did better with its scoring chances."

Simpson had the first chance to score, but Mitchell White failed to convert a penalty kick in the 14^th minute. It marked the first time in White's career he missed a penalty kick attempt in five attempts.

McEntee finished with seven saves and Boyke had five for Wartburg.

Simpson will try to even its Iowa Conference record when it goes to Buena Vista on Wednesday, Oct. 1.