Early goals power Simpson to important road victory

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - Simpson men's soccer team only needed 13 minutes to dispatch of Illinois College, using two early goals to gain a much-needed road win, Tuesday.

Baraka Ellie fired the Storm (5-2) in front in the 12th minute. Matt Hasken's floated ball into the box was not cleared well by the Blueboys (6-2-1), allowing Mateaus Lewis to cut the ball back into the path of the onrushing Ellie, whose left-footed effort found the far corner.

Just over a minute later, a lovely ball was sprayed out to Hasken on the right wing, who took it down beautifully before cutting inside his defender and playing a low, diagonal cross that was dispatched by a sliding Lewis. The two goals came just 64 seconds apart, leaving the Blueboys stunned.

The game then became a battle of the midfields, with each team careful not to exert itself too early on due to the record heat. The Blueboys did offer the Storm one scare in the first half though. A floated ball in the box caught Storm goalkeeper Kegan Trebilcock off guard, but Trebilcock recovered enough to prevent the ball going in, eventually hitting the crossbar. An acrobatic bicycle kick attempt follow-up from the Blueboys went wide to eventually end the threat, as the Storm went into the break up 2-0.

The Storm knew the Blueboys would come out chasing the game in the second half, but put it to bed early on. Ellie fired the Storm into a 3-0 lead around the hour mark, becoming the first Simpson player this season to score multiple goals in a game. The assist once again came from Lewis, as he also earned the distinction of the first Storm player with multiple assists in a game this year.

From there, the Storm defense continued to thwart the Blueboys attack, earning just their second clean sheet of the year and the first since the season-opening 1-0 win at Augustana. While the teams finished tied at nine shots a piece, the Storm had five shots on goal compared to just one for the Blueboys.

Up Next

The Storm have no time to dwell on the victory, as they continue their road trip tomorrow at 5 p.m. against Saint Mary's (Minn.).