CRESTVIEW HILLS, KY. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College men's soccer team has not tasted defeat in six weeks, a streak that stands as the longest in programs history. The unbeaten run by the Panthers started with a 1-0 victory over Thomas More on September 25
th. On Tuesday night, the Saints ended the streak by picking-up a 2-0 result over Wesleyan. The Panthers' Captain,
Haakon Torvbraaten, tied the program record for games played and is one start away from tying the program record for games started.
Before either team could settle into the match the Saints pulled back into their zone, looking down field waiting for the right match-up. The Saints quickly dumped a long pass over the top of the Panthers defense and found a favorable matchup with Nick Phyllis who scored the first goal.
The Panthers had held possession for a majority of first half and had multiple chances to tie the match before intermission.
Hamish Strong had two scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes, one was off target while the second was blocked with the traffic in front of the Thomas More goal.
The best chance for Wesleyan in the first period came just before the break where
Haakon Torvbraaten had a free kick from 35 yards. His shot cleared the Saints' defensive wall and missed right of the net. Thomas went into the break clinging to a 1-0 advantage.
In the 52
nd minute Phyllis scored again to double the Saints lead. Thomas More caught the Panthers scrambling in front of their own goal and keeper
Iver Sjavag was pulled away from the net trying to clear the ball, but a deflection kept the ball in Panthers' zone. Phyllis cleaned up the scramble to double the lead.
Shortly thereafter the Panthers were on the attack again, In the 55
th minute,
Jhaeem Bryan saw his shot attempted saved by Drew Kendrick. On the play the Kendrick blocked the initial shot, but fell, leaving the net unoccupied. The Panthers could not control the deflection and cut into the Saints lead.
Two minutes later Kendrick again was caught away from the net trying to make a stop and like the first time the Saints lucked-out with the Panthers unable to score. However, Wesleyan was awarded a free kick and Torvbraaten's shotsailed over the crossbar.
The Panthers took 12 shots on the night, five on goal. Torvbraaten finished with three shots while Strong and
Mattie McNally each totaled two shot attempts.
The Panthers finished in a tie with Findlay in the Great Midwest standings for third place. Wesleyan holds the tiebreaker and will host the first round of the G-MAC Tournament on Saturday night against Lake Erie, a rematch of last season's first round, this time at Panther Field. The match will be streamed live on FloCollege.
Visit kwcpanthers.com/give today to make a gift to Kentucky Wesleyan Athletics! Gifts can be directed to general athletics, our athletic endowment, or any of our 14 NCAA Division II programs.
Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCPanthers on X and Instagram and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page. Also, the Panthers Mobile App is available on iTunes and Android featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more.
