Macomb, Ill. – The No. 1 Central Methodist men's soccer team defeated NCAA Division I member Western Illinois by a final score of 2-1 Sunday afternoon in Macomb. Ill.
With the win, Central improves its overall record to 16-1. Western Illinois falls to 2-6-1.
The win marks the third victory over an NCAA DI member this spring for CMU, all of which have been on the road. The other victories included a 1-0 win over the University of Missouri-Kansas City on March 12, and an exhibition win over Creighton (Neb.), 4-0 on Feb. 24.
"Western was a tough place to play on a windy day," said Head Coach Alex Nichols. "They are a very scrappy team and we had to battle to get the win. We knew it wouldn't be easy and we were down many numbers due to injuries so it was great to see guys step up and drive us to another good win against a competitive team, which just beat the No. 18 team in the NCAA twice. We need to rest up now and get healthy as the conference tournament will be here before we know it!"
The leathernecks scored the opening goal with 12:30 on the clock in the first half, before the Eagles bounced back a little over 10 minutes later. Freshman midfielder Niels Zachriat tied the game for the Eagles off an Assist from Marcos German.
The game-winning goal came less than one minute later with Zachriat returning the favor to German, who fired the ball past the keeper giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead before halftime.
Both teams had chances in the second half to increase the scoring, but the Eagles were able to hold off any offensive attacks to earn their 16th win of the season.
CMU finished with a total of 14 shots with half being on frame, while the Leathernecks took eight with only two coming on goal. Zachriat led the team with three shots, one goal, and one assist. Theo Klein, Carlos Scheckermann, Alessandro Lacerti and German, all finished with two shots. German also added one goal and one assist.
Stefano Camerlengo played a full 90 minutes, allowing one goal and recording one save en route to his 14th win of the season.
The Eagles are scheduled to play Bethel on Friday, April 2. Time and location are still to be determined.
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