Storm ties Gustavus; Unseats Crown, 3-2

The Simpson men's soccer team came away with an undefeated weekend after defeating Crown 3-2 Saturday and battling to a scoreless tie against regional-power Gustavus Adolphus 0-0 Sunday.

Looking Ahead
Simpson closes a four-game home stand by hosting Grinnell at Buxton Stadium Thursday at 7 p.m. Grinnell is 2-3 after splitting at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Cup, defeating Augustana 1-0 and falling to host UW-Oshkosh, 2-0. Since Mike Wilson took over the head job in 2005, the Storm is 0-3 against the Pioneers, losing 1-0 last year, 3-2 in 2007 and 4-2 in 2005.

Looking Back
Simpson 0, Gustavus Adolphus 0 (2OT) – Sunday, Sept. 13

For the second year in a row, Simpson and Gustavus could not determine a winner. The Gusties (2-1-2) outshot Simpson (2-1-2) 20-10, but both teams put four shots on goal. The Gusties came into the week ranked No. 4 in the North Region, and came to Indianola fresh off a 1-0 overtime win against Central on Saturday.

"This was a barometer for us and a measurement as to where we're going with our program," head coach Mike Wilson said. "We used eight guys off the bench and we didn't lose anything with those guys in there. Gustavus is a great regional opponent, and this was a great day for us. Hopefully we can push forward after this experience, as a lot of teams in our conference will be similar to Gustavus."

Simpson outshot Gustavus 3-2 in the overtime period, including a dangerous opportunity from Chris Allen (So., Reinbeck, Iowa) in the 104th minute. Senior Connor Skultety (Lincoln, Neb.) initiated the attack with a great clear to Allen in the Gustavus third. Allen took the pass and approached the goal in a one vs. one opportunity with Gusties goalkeeper, Luke Strom.

With Allen fast approaching, Strom vacated the goal and knocked away Allen's attempt.

"It's good to know we can compete with a team like Gustavus," Wilson said. "It wasn't like when we played them last year and we just hung on. We were battling this time around, and to see that progress this year is promising."

Mark Lahart (Fr., Newton, Iowa) provided another dangerous opportunity in the first overtime period, firing a shot from the right wing toward the top left corner of the frame that went just wide of the mark.

Simpson stepped up defensively at the end of regulation and in overtime, as the backline turned away a number of scoring opportunities. Matt Winegard (Sr., Muscatine, Iowa) headed the effort, while goalkeeper Josh Youngman (Sr., Pella, Iowa) made four saves in the shutout.

Simpson 3, Crown 2 – Saturday, Sept. 12

Simpson took a season-high 28 shots, putting 10 on goal in a 3-2 win over Crown Saturday night at Buxton Stadium.

Lucas Haak (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa) scored two goals in a span of two minutes in the second frame, breaking open what was a 1-1 deadlock at halftime. Skultety assisted on Haak's first goal, while his second was a rocket from the top of the box that found the top left corner of the net.

Corey Miller (Sr., Sioux City, Iowa) opened the scoring in the 16th minute, getting his second goal of the season off an assist from Jim Frizzell (Jr., Grimes, Iowa).

Kyle Brubaker tied the contest for Crown with less than four minutes remaining in the opening half, finding the back of the net from the top of the box. Trailing 3-1 with 20 seconds remaining in the contest, Mark Matson headed a serve from Brubaker that also crossed the goal line, rounding out the scoring.

Jeremy Ward (Sr., Norwalk, Iowa) improved his record in goal to 2-0, making three saves. Crown's John Loeffler took the loss while nabbing seven saves.