LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan handed Wartburg College their first conference loss of the season on Saturday as the Prairie Wolves held on for an important 2-1 victory over the Knights in men's soccer action at Abel Stadium.
With the victory, NWU improves to 7-5-1 overall and evens up the conference record at 2-2. Wartburg, ranked No. 23 in the NCAA III Top 25 rankings, falls to 7-2-3 and 2-1-1 in league play. The Prairie Wolves now sit at fifth place in the IIAC standings with four matches remaining.
NWU wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as
Jake Kennedy continued his stellar play by scoring just 1:08 into the match. Kennedy found the back of the net from 10 yards out to give NWU an early advantage.
Wartburg responded right away as Ayo Adebayo scored in the third minute to tie the match up at 1-1. The score would remain 1-1 the rest of the half as scoring slowed for both teams.
To start the second half, the Prairie Wolves struck again to take the lead.
Alex Day scored in the 48
th minute giving Nebraska Wesleyan a 2-1 advantage. The NWU defense held the rest of the way and didn't allow the Knights to score.
The Knights had 13 total shot attempts, compared to nine for the Prairie Wolves.
Nebraska Wesleyan will try to make it two wins in a row on Tuesday night when they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to face Coe College.
