Storm fall in five-goal thriller

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Simpson men's soccer team dropped a tough match at the hands of Wisconsin-Platteville, 3-2, Friday, at Buxton Stadium.

The Pioneers (3-2-1) struck first from a long-range effort from Jack Gentilli that beat Storm goalkeeper William Kopp in the seventh minute. Not dismayed, Kopp made a brilliant close-range save less than a minute later to keep the score at 1-0.

The Pioneers continued their bright start by nearly doubling their advantage in the 14th minute. Following a corner kick, Brant Mueller's header fortunately hit Kopp's left post, before a host of Simpson defenders blocked the follow-up attempt.

The Storm (4-2) equalized around the midway point of the first half. Ronaldo Ordaz finished off a brilliant pass from Matt Hasken, beating Pioneer goalkeeper Seth Aiken by slotting the ball into the right-hand corner.

Just a few minutes after, the Storm turned the game on its head. After some great work by Ordaz to draw a free kick, Roderick Orellana-Lemus floated in a ball into the Pioneer box that was headed straight to Ricardo Ibarra. Ibarra's perfect control allowed him to seamlessly step into his powerful shot that flew into the net, giving Simpson a 2-1 lead.

Kopp made another brilliant save in the 36th minute, going airborne and palming away Sebastian Carranza's shot. However, the Pioneers equalized just before the break, with a long free kick headed in by Carranza to send the game into halftime at 2-2.

Despite a breathtaking first half, the second half started slow. Baraka Ellie created the first action of the half, but his shot went high and wide.

Just three minutes later, the Storm conceded a penalty kick, but Nate Hersom, who came in at halftime, made an incredible full-stretch diving stop to keep the score level.

UW-Platteville continued to show warning signs, however, with Clayton Mobile being played through 1v1 down the left hand side, but put his shot just wide of Hersom's left post. The Pioneers regained the lead in the 70th minute, though, with Mobile running down the left hand side and finding Gentilli who scored his second goal of the match.

Simpson's best remaining chance of the match fell to Orellana-Lemus, whose thunderbolt strike from about 25 yards out was saved at full stretch by the Pioneer keeper.

The Storm will look to right the ship by going back on the road to take on Illinois College, Tuesday, at 5 p.m.