The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis men’s soccer team wrapped up a perfect road trip weekend this past Sunday, defeating the University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons 4-0.
It did not take long for the Greyhounds (4-1-1, 3-0-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) to score their first goal of the game against the Tritons (3-3-0, 2-2-0 GLVC), as freshman midfielder Jimmy Trigger scored the first goal of his collegiate career at the 1:26 mark, after receiving a cross in the box from redshirt sophomore midfielder Casey Zimmerman.

Sophomore back Julian Shamsaie looks to pass the ball during the Greyhounds’ contest against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The Greyhounds won 2-1. Photo by Zefeng Zhang

The game would remain 1-0 until the 66:51 mark, when junior forward Ngwese Ebangwese scored a goal after receiving a cross from the left side from senior midfielder Kevin Eggert.
Six minutes later, UIndy added another goal to its tally on an own goal.
The Greyhounds’ final goal of the match came from junior midfielder Casey Castle at the 89:46 mark to finish the blowout victory. The goal was Castle’s second of the season.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Verhonik took the win for the Hounds in goal, making one save.
On Sept. 20, the Hounds played against the Saints of Maryville University, winning the match 3-2.
The first goal of the match came at the 19:53 mark, when the Saints freshman midfielder/forward Bogdan Atanasov scored following an assist from junior forward Lance Kohler, giving Maryville a 1-0 advantage.
The Saints played on to uphold their advantage at the end of the first half, with neither team scoring again before halftime.
In the second half, it did not take long for the Hounds to tie up the match at 1-1, when Eggert scored his first goal of the season at the 54:08 mark.
Nearly 11 minutes later at the 65:46 mark, the Hounds took their first lead of the match following a goal from sophomore Reid Strain, who scored off an assist from Zimmerman, putting the Hounds ahead 2-1. The goal was also Strain’s first of the year.
The Hounds’ advantage would not last long, however, as Kohler tied up the match for the Saints less than a minute later at the 66:35 mark.
The match remained tied until the 89:18 mark, when Eggert scored off a cross from Ebangwese which gave the Hounds a 3-2 lead with only 42 seconds remaining.
Maryville could not respond in the short amount of time left on the clock, and UIndy went on to claim its second-straight victory of the season.
Verhonik took the victory for the Greyhounds, making two saves on the day while allowing two goals.
For the first home game of the season, the Greyhounds took on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers, winning in double overtime 2-1.
Throughout the match, both teams battled back and forth. The Greyhounds took an overall 24 shots in the game, 12 of which were on target. The Rangers took a total of five shots, with two on target.
Nearly two minutes into the game, the Rangers’ freshman forward Thomas Diehl scored, giving the Rangers a 1-0 advantage.
This has been a reccurring situation for the Hounds in the season, with three goals scored by opposing teams   coming within the first few minutes of the game. Head Men’s Soccer Coach John Higgins said that this is a key problem, and the team needs to make an adjustment to prevent this from occuring in future matches.
“We had 46 shots for the weekend, which is great, but we really need to stop losing early goals in the game. If we can hold off opposing teams from scoring early on, we will win every game,” Higgins said.
Of the 24 shots taken against the Rangers, two were from senior midfielder Brett Greubel, who led the Hounds in points  prior to this past weekend.
Greubel has two assists and one goal thus far in 2013. According to Higgins, Greubel has emerged as a defined leader on the squad.
Greubel said that the task of being a team leader is something he embraces.
“I don’t try to focus on [stats] too much,” he said. “I don’t like to put too much pressure on myself. But at the same time, I do like having the guys look up to me as a senior and a leader. I try to stay [as] consistent as possible and just get out there and play.”
The Greyhounds rebounded in the second half of the match with a stronger performance. With 6:16 left in the second half, Castle took a shot in the goal box, which tied the match up at 1-1 and forced extra minutes.
For Greubel, the thought of losing was never an option as they headed into overtime against the Rangers.
“It came down to the last moments of regulation, and I kept thinking, ‘This needs to happen.’ Our confidence and momentum was sky high. I told the guys in the huddle going into overtime that the momentum was ours. They [Wisconsin-Parkside] were tired. We had the confidence, and the pressure was all on them. I felt the win coming along,” Greubel said.
The score remained unchanged in the first overtime, which forced the match into another.
Heading into the second overtime, the Greyhounds decided to do something unusual and put in a whole new front six into the match.
“I think we are fitter and deeper than Parkside. Putting in a new lineup is an indication of how deep we are. We can rotate guys in and out, and nothing really changes. It keeps our guys’ legs really fresh, which allowed us to create all those extra chances in overtime,” Higgins said.
In the 103rd minute of the game, Castle cross-kicked the ball to sophomore transfer back Daniel Wellmann, whose first shot bounced off the Rangers’ goalie. After that, Wellmann regained possession of the blocked shot and scored on a second try, ending the game and claiming the victory for UIndy.
The Greyhounds will return to Key Stadium on Sept. 27, when they will take on the Truman State University Bulldogs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.