Box Score

Morris, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Morris men's soccer team opened Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play today (Sept. 17), scoring a 2-0 win over visiting Crown College.

After a scoreless first half, the Cougars' Matt Johnson (Monument, Colo.) got the home team on the board first with a nifty goal after beating the defender one-on-one. The highlight of the match, Johnson took the centering pass and sent the ball left of the defender while he went right, catching back up with the ball on the other side. Once there fired of a shot inside the far post for the 1-0 lead at the 51:52 mark.

“It got played around the back to Kevin [Haider] on the outside,” Johnson said of the goal. “And he played it into my feet and let it run through my legs, and luckily it went through the defenders legs too. Then it was just me and the keeper, and I went to the corner.”

The goal was the first of the season for Johnson, and he took it off the first assist of the year from Kevin Haider (Monticello, Minn.).

Johnson finished with four shots on the match and a game high three on the goal.  Teammate Toby Glaser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) fired off a game high six shots on the day, finishing with one on goal, while adding an assists to his stat line.

Late in the match, with the Cougars still clinging to a 1-0 lead, Glaser connected a pass to Michael Ward (Cottage Grove, Minn.) just in front of the net, that Ward buried or his first goal of the year, giving UMM the final 2-0 decision.

The Cougars held the advantage all game long, outshooting the Storm 24-to-7, including 13-to-4 in the second half. Coming off a player-of-the-week performance last week, goalkeeper Tyler Simpson (Broomfield, Colo.) had lighter work today, finishing with one save, stopping the only shot on goal that the stout UMM defense allowed. Simpson played all 90:00 minutes and collects his second win o the year.

The Cougars held a 9-to-1 advantage in shots on goal and out-cornered the Storm 9-to-1 in the match as well. Despite the scoreless opening half, the Cougars had the pressure on early, firing a barrage of shots in the first half and controlling the play early.

Minnesota, Morris moves to and even 2-2-2 on the year and opens 1-0-0 in UMAC play. Crown falls to 1-4-1 on the year and is 0-1-0 in league play. The Cougars return to action tomorrow, back at Cougar field to host Northwestern at 2:00 p.m.

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