Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University hosted Northwestern College on its home turf for a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) matchup on a Saturday evening. Successful penalty kick opportunities for both teams in the first half, followed by stout defense by both sides, led to a 1-1 draw.
Midland took the lead in the 22nd minute as the Northwestern defense fouled inside its defensive box, giving the opportunity of a penalty kick. Collin Macke stepped up and took the penalty kick, sending it soaring past the keeper to put the Warriors up 1-0.
Shortly after, the Red Raiders got a penalty kick opportunity. They were able to put it to the back of the net for the equalizer goal in the 24th minute. The score would remain knotted at 1-1 into halftime.
After the intermission, both teams were aggressive on the pitch, looking to break the tie. However, the half remained scoreless as the defenses played to a 1-1 draw.
Midland had a slight edge in shot attempts in the game (11-9) while Northwestern took the lead with shots on frame (6-1). Marco Moresco played the full 90 minutes in goal, collecting six saves on the night.
“I’m very proud of the team’s resilience. We are becoming very hard to beat now,” said head coach Josh Nakayama postgame. “Our next step is to build on this and use it as momentum. Huge game for some of our players. Collin Macke is finding his groove and becoming the player we knew he could be. I look forward to the future and see what this team can do. We are heading to the season’s final matches, and I believe we will peak at the right time if we can continue building off these successes.”
Midland (3-6-3, 1-2-3 GPAC) will take a week’s break before returning to action on home turf against Morningside (5-3-5, 4-1-2 GPAC). The weekend match is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 14 at Heedum Field in Fremont.
