INDIANAPOLIS - The UIndy men's soccer team picked up a hard earned 2-1 win over Lincoln Memorial on Thursday night with goals from Alvaro Snachez and Colin Elder.
Tonight's win evens the overall series between these two at 1-1, with the only two meetings between the Greyhounds and the Railsplitters coming in the inaugural match of the last two seasons.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams traded blows in the opening 10 minutes of the match, with each team creating chances of their own on both ends, before Elder broke the deadlock in the 11th minute after a wild redirection on a clearance that put him one-on-one with Lincoln Memorial's Benedick Mikolsi, and he calmly tucked it away into the bottom right corner to put UIndy ahead 1-0.
Kabiru Gafar kept the Hounds' momentum going over the next 15 minutes, including a wild sequence in the 22nd minute that saw one of his shots saved followed by two diving blocks on rebound shots from Elder to keep the Railsplitters only one goal behind.
Lincoln Memorial found their equalizer in the 31st minute on a corner kick that saw a cheeky heel flick from David McDougall end up at the feet of Kei Ishikawa to square the game at one and send the teams to the locker room tied at the half.
The goalkeepers made massive saves for each team early in the second half to keep the game at one all, including a low diving save from Keetri Unnamatla in the 48th minute, and a shot saved off a shot from UIndy newcomer
Lucas Binnebose in the 61st minute.
After two chances from both teams early on in the second half, the Hounds put themselves back in front, 2-1 just four minutes later, after Gafar's brilliant skill and cross found Sanchez on a streaking run into the 18-yard box that ended in a comfortable finish for Sanchez that beat the outstretched arm of Benedick Mikolsi.
Sanchez almost notched his second with 12 minutes to go, but was denied by a great save from Benedick Mikolsi.
The Hounds' backline of Viktor Mayrink,
Ryan Walsh and Binnebose kept the Hounds lead in tack for the final moments of the game with a strong defensive effort that eventually earned the Hounds their first tally in the win column.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Five Greyhounds made their debuts for the team tonight; Binnebose, Elder, Mayrink,
Sam Siegel, and Unnamatla.
- Gafar brought his career total assists to nine after his game winning assist tonight.
- Sanchez's five shots tonight are the most in a single game in his career.
- The senior,
Gio Terlizzi, played the most minutes he's played in one game in his career with 85.
UP NEXT
UIndy will look to stay hot in their next game against Lake Erie on Sunday Sept. 7 at 1 p.m., in another rematch from 2024.
