DUBUQUE – The Iowa Wesleyan College men’s and women’s soccer teams both put up game efforts but came out matches against Clarke University with identical 1-0 losses Wednesday afternoon in Midwest Collegiate Conference play.
The Tiger women lost to the Crusaders 1-0 in overtime in the first match of the day, as Bekah Willich scored the golden goal 4:22 into overtime. The IWC men then lost by the same score, as Clarke scored late in the first half and made the goal stand the rest of the match.
The Wesleyan women (1-9-1 overall, 0-1-1 MCC) put together one of their best efforts of the season, hanging tough against one of the top teams in the MCC. The Tigers played the Crusaders to a tie through regulation despite being outshot 20-2, as Cara Arnold (Jr.-Davis Junction, Ill.) made nine saves in goal. IWC even made a push midway through the second half, getting its only two shots on goal from Brittney Moss (Jr.-Genoa, Ill.) and Taylor Scott (Jr.-Rockton, Ill.) just over three minutes apart.
Clarke (6-3-1 overall, 2-1 MCC) finally broke through in overtime, though, as Willich scored unassisted at the 94:22 mark of the match, scoring on the only shot of overtime. The Crusaders defeated the Tigers late for the second straight year, as last year Clarke defeated IWC 2-1 with the winning goal coming with 1:45 left in the match.
The Iowa Wesleyan men got the better of overall play in the first half against Clarke, outshooting the home team 4-1 in the first 45 minutes. The Crusaders made their only opportunity count, though, as Jared Hall scored an unassisted goal 33:27 into the match, and the score would remain that way the rest of the match as the Tigers were unable to put a shot on goal in the second half.
IWC outshot Clarke 7-6 in the match and had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal. Troy Osborne (Jr.-Sydney, Australia) made two saves in goal for the Tigers, and Levor Henry (Sr.-St. Johns, Antigua) had two shots to lead Wesleyan offensively. The Tigers dropped to 2-6-1 overall and 0-1-1 in conference, while Clarke is now 4-4-2 overall, 1-1-1 in the MCC.
The Iowa Wesleyan soccer teams are in action again on Saturday when they welcome Waldorf College to Mount Pleasant for a pair of conference matches. Play out at East Lake Park begins at 1 p.m. with the women’s match and continues with the men’s match at 3 p.m.
Box score Women Clarke 1 IWC 0 (OT)
Box score Men Clarke 1 IWC 0
