Pochop leads Storm to last-minute win over Nebraska Wesleyan

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Garrett Pochop played a part in both goals, Tanner Alderson found the back of the net with less than a minute left in regulation, and the Simpson men's soccer team stayed unbeaten with a pulse-pounding 2-1 win over Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday evening.

As all of Buxton Stadium was preparing themselves for overtime, Pochop and Alderson had other plans.

Pochop dribbled down the right side, stopped, and served a perfect cross into the box. Alderson headed the helper past Wesleyan goalkeeper Jack Nespor with just 47 seconds left on the clock, helping the Storm (11-0-1, 3-0 Iowa Conference) retain their spot atop the league standings.

Pochop scored the first goal of the night for the Storm, a highlight-reel shot from 35 yards out that tucked under the crossbar in the 21st minute. Jake Kennedy answered less than two minutes later for the Prairie Wolves (6-5-1, 1-2).

Quotes
"Garrett's not only the best player in our league, he's one of the best players nationally." — head coach Rick Isaacson on Garrett Pochop

"Our philosophy is that if you put enough shots on goal, eventually one of them will find the back of the net." — Garrett Pochop

Numbers & Notes
• Pochop continues to thrive on the leaderboards as he is the program's leader for career goals (44), career points (105) and shots (221). Pochop also leads the team with six assists, one shy of his career high set last season and eight shy of the career assists record set by Tyler Neumann (25 from 2012-15).

• Alderson (12) and Pochop (12) lead the team in goals and have combined to score 73% of Simpson's goals this year. Going into the night, Simpson was the only team in Division III to have two players ranked in the top 15 in goals scored. With 11 goals apiece, the duo was tied for 15th.

• Simpson sits alone at the top of the Iowa Conference standings with a 3-0 record. The team leads the conference in goals (33), shots (219), points (90) and has the second highest save percentage (.836).

• Simpson has gone 38-21-5 in home games under seventh-year head coach Rick Isaacson.

• Jake Potratz made eight saves Wednesday and now owns a 0.83 goals against average through eleven games. That puts him second on Simpson's single-season list, ahead of Luke Aronow (0.88 in 2013) and behind record holder Rob Swanson (0.63 in 1997).

Up Next
The Storm head to Storm Lake to take on Buena Vista in a mid-afternoon Iowa Conference match-up. The Beavers (3-8-1, 0-2) are coming off a 6-0 loss at Loras.