Palos Heights, Ill. – The Cardinal Stritch University Wolves men’s soccer team rolled to a road victory on Thursday night over Trinity Christian College. Playing in what was originally scheduled to be a home game for Stritch, the venue made no difference as the Wolves dismantled the Trolls by a final score of 3-1.
Ben Allen (Whalley, England) got Stritch on the board first just ten minutes into the match. Allen, the Wolves’ leading goal-scorer, would put an initial shot on the TCC net after a nice pass from Sean Hughes (Blackburn, England), but it would we stopped by the Trolls’ Andrew Boersma (Clive, Iowa). Boersma couldn’t secure the ball as Allen would score on the rebound to net his sixth goal of the season, giving the Wolves a 1-0 lead.
Later in the half, Stritch would add another, this time off the foot of the team’s second-leading scorer, Paul Dugdale (Burnley, England). The Wolves would draw a foul inside the box against TCC’s Mohamed Mohamed (Burbank, Ill.) setting up a penalty kick. Dugdale, who was 1-1 on penalty kicks this season, notched another goal giving the Wolves a 2-0 lead, closing out the first period scoring.
The 2-0 score would remain the same until the 65-minute mark as the Trolls’ Dave Tadla (Orland Park, Ill.) would cut the Stritch lead in half with his first goal of the game.
Despite the deficit being cut in half, Dugdale and the Wolves would respond with more offensive pressure following the TCC goal. Just three minutes after Tadla’s goal, the Wolves would take back the two-goal lead. With the Wolves pressuring, TCC’s Mohamed would be called for another foul inside the box, drawing yet another penalty kick in favor of Stritch. Dugdale would extend his streak to 3-3 on the season in penalty kicks sending his second goal of the game, fourth of the season, past Boersma.
With the win over the Trolls, the Wolves improved their overall record to 8-3-1 and extended their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) record to 3-1. With the loss, the Trolls drop to 5-7 and 1-3. Stritch will take to the field again this weekend as they’ll welcome Trinity International to Uihlein Soccer Park. Match time is slated for 2 p.m. between the Wolves and Trojans.