Pochop sets school record as Storm edge Dubuque

DUBUQUE, Iowa — In a span of two days, the Simpson men's soccer team welcomed a new addition to the Storm family and crowned a new scoring king.

On Friday morning, head coach Rick Isaacson and his wife, Kelly, welcomed their third child into the world. A little over 24 hours later, Isaacson was on the sideline when his senior conference MVP broke the school record for goals in a career.

Garrett Pochop made history with his 43rd career goal, Ian Dean scored the game-winner and the Storm came back to beat Dubuque 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Dean headed in the go-ahead score in the final minute of the first half and Jake Potratz kept a clean net the rest of the way as the Storm (10-0-1, 2-0-0) remained atop the Iowa Conference standings.

The Spartans (5-4-1, 1-1-0) hit the board first on a goal from Viktor Abrahamsen in the seventh minute. The lead was short-lived, as Pochop tied the score at 1-1 just seven seconds later.

The 2016 Iowa Conference Offensive MVP now holds three of the Storm's most significant offensive records. He also has the record for career points (102) and shots (217) and is tied for 11th in assists.

Dean took a header off a free kick from Nick Joslyn just 47 seconds before the halftime buzzer to give Simpson the 2-1 lead, recording the final tally of the game. Dubuque outshot Simpson by one in the second period as neither team was able to find the back of the net.

Coach Speak
"We are happy to leave Dubuque with another win. The goal was to be 1-0 on the day. Now it's on to our midweek matchup against Nebraska Wesleyan." — head coach Rick Isaacson.

Numbers & Notes
• Head coach Rick Isaacson joined the team in Dubuque after he and his wife, Kelly, welcomed their third child into the world. Sloan Elisabeth Isaacson was born early Friday, Sept. 29.

• Pochop surpassed the career goals record held by Mitchell White (2011-14) with his goal in today's contest. He is now the program's leader with 43 career goals and also holds the record for career points (102) and shots (217).

• Alderson (11) and Pochop (11) lead the team in goals and have combined to score 71% of Simpson's goals this year. Pochop also leads the team with five assists, two shy of his career high set last season.

• Simpson is undefeated in its last ten regular season road games, outscoring opponents 30-9 during the stretch.

• Simpson is tied with Wartburg with a 2-0 Iowa Conference record after the Knights edged Central 2-1 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.

• After his first month with the Storm, freshman goalkeeper Jake Potratz owns a 0.81 goals against average in ten 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
Simpson returns home Wednesday, Oct. 4 for another IIAC contest against Nebraska Wesleyan (5-4-1, 0-1) under the lights. The Storm lead the all-time series 10-8-3, winning their last game 4-1. Start time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Buxton Stadium.