Thankfully, for the Triton College men's soccer team lightening did not strike twice in their make-up contest Oct. 14 in River Grove against Prairie State College.
When the NJCAA Division II No. 2 ranked Pioneers came to Triton on August 24, the match was stopped and eventually canceled due to lightening in the area with the Trojans enjoying a 1-0 lead with 25 minutes to play in regulation.
The teams had to start over from scratch in the rematch. However, the second time around there were no weather issues as Triton (7-2) was able to finish off Prairie State in a 1-0 victory.
"When you the play the No. 2 team in the nation, it easy to come out fired up and we played great soccer and got the win," said head coach
Piotr Sliwa.
The lone Trojans goal came with 7:32 remaining in the first half when
Maciej Rzadkosz headed
Patryk Szatko's free kick from the sideline into the front lower corner of the net pass the Pioneers keeper.
The goal would stand up the rest of the way as
Jesus Mancha made several key saves late to hold-off a furious rally by Prairie State (12-2). For the game, Mancha recorded six saves.
However, Sliwa credits the defensive effort as the main reason his squad pulled off the win.
"The defense was why we won," said Sliwa. "When you play one of the top teams in the country, you need to defend and our guys showed a lot of heart. It wasn't easy but they played for each other."
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