MOUNT PLEASANT – Despite some terrific play from goalkeeper Chris Rennie (Sr.-Edinburgh, Scotland) the Iowa Wesleyan College men’s soccer team took a 3-0 loss to Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College on Saturday at East Lake Park in the team’s season opener.
Rennie made 13 saves in the match, including a stop on a second half penalty kick, but the Tiger netminder received little offensive help as the Trojans controlled play for the entire match. Hannibal-LaGrange outshot IWC 29-0 in the match and scored three times in the second half after a scoreless first half.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half despite the Tigers playing most of the first half a man down. Alex Marchese (Fr.-Toronto, Ontario) received his second yellow card in the 20th minute, but Rennie made five saves in the first half and IWC survived seven corner kicks by HLG.
The man-disadvantage proved to be a bigger disadvantage in the second half as the Trojans recorded 18 shots, including 11 on goal. Sergi Beltrol broke the stalemate in the 54th minute, and Kevin Zimmermann and Shawn Ohlms later added goals for the Trojans. The score could have been even more, but Rennie guessed correctly by going to his right and was able to stop Zimmermann’s penalty kick in the 57th minute.
Hannibal-LaGrange improved to 2-0 this season. IWC plays its next match on Wednesday when the Tigers host Cornell College at about 5 pm at East Lake Park. The men’s match will start about 15 minutes after the preceding IWC-Cornell women’s match at 3 pm.
For more information regarding the IWC soccer programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score HLG 3 IWC 0
