OWENSBORO, KY. – Saturday night at Panther Field was another chapter in a historic season for the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's soccer team. The Panthers hosted their first postseason game in school history in a rematch of last year's quarterfinal against Lake Erie College. Wesleyan produced a clean sheet, defeating the Storm 2-0. The win marked an unblemished season at Panther Field, the first in program history. The match also marked a record-breaking career for captain Haakon Torvbraaten, who stands alone in program history with 76 matches played. 
 
The Panthers (9-3-7, 8-3-3 G-MAC) were picked to finish seventh by the Great Midwest Coaches back in August. The men's soccer program has been around since 1979 and has never finished the season unbeaten at home. With this victory, Wesleyan is 7-0-5 at Panthers Field, 12 in a row this season and 16 total matches since their last defeat back in 2024. 
 
Wesleyan certainly was ready for this moment. The players and the home crowd brought plenty of emotion from the start of the match as the Panthers controlled possession throughout the first 45 minutes. Wesleyan took four shots in the first 35 minutes, and in the 36^th minute of the match Elias Jonsson scored the first goal of the match off a corner kick. 
 
Haakon Torvbraaten curved his corner kick into the middle of the box for Jonsson and Braeden Myers-Curry. As both jumped for the header, Jonsson connected first. The shot deflected off keeper David Ruiz Ospina, and while he bobbled the ball, it crossed the goal line. 
 
The Storm (5-6-8, 5-5-4 G-MAC) were motivated to find the equalizer in the second half. For as much as the Panthers controlled possession in the first half, the Storm flipped the script in the second half. With most of the action in the Panthers zone, keeper Iver Sjavag preserved a 1-0 lead for the Panthers. With less than 20 minutes left in the match the Storm thought they tied the score, but the goal was wiped out as they were offsides. 
 
Tense moments continued late into the match. A perfectly placed ball from Cameron Bell, the Owensboro native, gave the Panthers some insurance as his shot cleared the keeper and found the back right corner of the net in the 85^th minute. Torvbraaten assisted on both goals, bringing his season total to eight assists. Moreover, in the Panthers nine wins this year there have been nine different players to score the game-winner. Wesleyan finished the match with 10 shots, six on goal. Torvbraaten and Mattie McNally each took two shots on the night. The man of the match, Iver Sjavag, made four saves to earn his fourth clean sheet of season. 
 
The Panthers will return to the G-MAC Tournament Semifinals for the second time in as many years. Their next match will be against Cedarville at 9:00 AM CT on the campus of Tiffin University. 
 
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