Men's Soccer Advances to Region 4 Championship Game

The Triton College men's soccer team got a little payback against neighborhood rival Morton College when the two top-ten ranked teams squared off in the Region 4 Division II semifinals Nov. 2 in River Grove.

The NJCAA No. 9 ranked Trojans took control of the match midway through the first half for a 5-1 victory over the No. 6 ranked Panthers.

Triton (15-2) will host NJCAA No. 4 ranked Prairie State College Saturday at Noon for the Region 4 title. The Trojans earned the home game by virtue of their 1-0 win over the Pioneers on Oct. 14. Saturday's winner will earn the automatic bid to the NJCAA Division II Tournament Nov. 15-20 in Wichita, Kan.

"Having home-field advantage is big for as playing on their grass field would have suited their style perfectly,"  said Triton head coach Piotr Sliwa. "There were a few things said to us by them after won the first game and our guys remember that. It's going to be quite a game."

The Trojans scored three goals in a 15-minute span by Patryk Szatko, Konrad Madej and Christian Martinez to the put the Triton side of a crowd of approximately 500 into a frenzy.

Morton (14-4) would get a late tally to get on the board to make it a 3-1 contest at halftime.

However, the Trojans put the game away in the second half as Szatko assisted on both Triton goals, one scored by Luis Aviles and other by Maciej Rzadkosz.

Alexander Nunez made six saves in front of the net for the Trojans.

"Morton is a good team that has the ability to come back," said Sliwa. "But I knew we were in good shape because they wasted so much energy the first 15 minutes of the second half."

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