Box Score St. Louis, Mo., September 1, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's soccer team notched its first win of the 2021 season on Wednesday evening with a 3-0 victory at Illinois Wesleyan. The marks Head Coach Joe Clarke's 250th win at WashU.
The Bears wasted no time in getting on the board. Sophomore Owen Culver scored his first-career goal, finding the back of the net just 4:09 into play.
WashU continued the momentum, adding two more goals in the first half.
Both the second and the third goals were scored by junior Sergio Rivas. He scored his first goal of the night just 7:59 into play. Just 41 seconds earlier, a shot from senior Alistair Shaw was saved by Illinois Wesleyan goalkeeper Brett Sprengel, but the Bears kept it on their end, leading to Rivas' goal.
Rivas scored his second goal of the day 23 minutes in on a pass from senior Armando Sanchez-Conde, giving WashU the 3-0 edge.
The Bears had three other scoring opportunities in the first half. Sophomore John Daniels put a shot on-frame at the 5:14 mark, following by Shaw's shot at 7:18 and another ball from Culver at 11:56, which were all saved by Sprengel.
The Titans' lone shot-on-goal in the first half was at the 36:59 mark, but senior goalkeeper Matt Martin was there to make the save.
Martin came up with his second save of the day less than 10 minutes into the second half, stopping a shot from Alex Fedorets. Just three-and-a-half minutes later, Martin made another save on a ball from Dylan Gripman. At the 63:25 mark, Martin added a fourth save on a shot from Zack Kokes.
Offensively in the second half, senior Michael Gemmell put a shot on frame in the 71st minute, which was saved by Illinois Wesleyan goalkeeper Austin Woodside.
Statistically, WashU record 10 shots on the day, seven of which were on-goal. Illinois Wesleyan outshot the Bears with 12, but only four were on-frame.
Martin faced all four shots on goal, recording four saves in 65:22 played. Sophomore goalkeeper Connor O'Brien came on for the final 24:38 of play but did not face any shots on goal.
WashU returns to action on Saturday evening for the first of a three-game homestand against Rose-Hulman at 7 p.m.
