The Vikings are currently set to finish the regular season this week in first place
The whistle has blown, and it’s time for more Vikings soccer! The regular season is rapidly coming to a close. The last update covered everything until the men’s game, Purdue Fort Wayne. To give a quick recap before this game, the Vikings had a record of 5-3 and a 5-0 record in the Horizon League.
The Vikings have played five games since the last update. During this stretch, the team has a 3-2 record. On Oct. 2, the Vikings took on Purdue Fort Wayne winning this game in overtime by a score of 2-1. After being down 1-0, sophomore Bojan Kolevski scored his sixth goal of the year tying the match at one.
Later in overtime, senior Jannis Schmidt scored the game winner, giving the Vikings a 2-1 victory. Three days later, the Vikings traveled to Pittsburgh taking on the 13th ranked Panthers. While the Vikings went into the half only down 1-0, the team couldn’t handle the Panthers offense and gave up three goals in the second half, and finishing the game 4-0.
The next game, the Vikings got back in conference play going to Oakland. They would score the first three goals of the match, two scored by Kolevski and one by Schmidt. Unfortunately, the Vikings would give up four unanswered goals, lose the game 4-3 and would suffer their first conference loss of the season.
To end their road trip, the team took on Robert Morris in a game that felt never ending as the teams battled in a scoreless game at the end of regulation. The teams would head to a second overtime where the Vikings finally get a goal from junior Pablo Kawecki at the 104:38 mark of double overtime ending this stagnant battle and the team’s two game losing streak.
The Vikings returned home to face Northern Kentucky, as they would take a lead in the first half and add two more goals in the second half. Goals were scored by sophomores Saahb Kular and Kolevski, and senior Thomas M’Barek. The team would go on to shutout the Norse on stellar defensive play ending with a 3-0 win.
Over the weekend, the Vikings hosted UIC and secured a 1-0 win on Senior Night with the singular goal scored byleading league goal scorer Kolevski before the end of the first half.
Looking ahead to this week, the Vikings have two games remaining. They will be the road versus Akron on Oct. 26 for their last non-conference game and ending at Wright State on Oct. 30. The Vikings look to finish the season strong before the Horizon League First Round in November and are currently in the number one spot with a conference record of 8-1.