ROLLA, MO - Local product
Jacob Boling came through when the Panthers needed him most on Friday, scoring a goal with eight minutes remaining to help Wesleyan seal a 3-2 victory over the Missouri S&T Miners.
Kentucky Wesleyan moves to 3-0-1 while Missouri S&T falls to 0-2-1.
The Miners pressed the Panthers early, forcing Wesleyan to defend hard right off the bat. After a few early shots from S&T were parried away by Wesleyan goalkeeper
Arthur Hill, the home side took advantage of a miscommunication between a few Panther defenders to pick up a ball close to the goal and put it in, giving them a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Wesleyan took that goal to heart, and just 10 minutes later,
Jacob Boling fed a perfect ball down the sideline to
Santiago Henrich, who put it pass the goalie to tie the game. Neither team got much going for the rest of the half and the went into the locker room tied at one.
The second half started the opposite of the first half, with Wesleyan putting pressure on the Miners. This payed dividends, as in the 61st minute
Hannes Gronevik took a pass from
Zach Moore and put it in the back of the net to give Wesleyan the 2-1 lead. Unfazed, however, were the Miners, as Joao Vieira scored on a free kick from 25 yards out a few minutes later to notch the game up at two. With the game being played mostly in the midfield, shots were hard to come by. There were only two shots over the next 15 minutes, until, in the 82 minute of play,
Zach Moore placed a perfect corner kick in the box that found
Jacob Boling, who put it in to give Wesleyan the 3-2 advantage. Wesleyan survived a furious offensive attack from the Miners over the final few minutes and held on for the win.
Santiago Henrich and
Hannes Gronevik's goals were each their second of the season, while Boling notched his first.
Zach Moore finished with two assists in the contest.
Arthur Hill made five saves in goal.
S&T out-shot the Panthers 14-9, but held just a 7-6 edge on shots-on-goal. In a relatively clean game, Wesleyan had 12 fouls compared to nine for S&T.
The Panthers, who will enter non-conference play undefeated for the first time since 2011, will host G-MAC newcomer Thomas More on Wednesday, September 13th for both team's first conference matchups of the season. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT.
Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCpanthers on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page.
