Pioneers Drop First Decision of 2012

A goal in the 88^th minute by Nick McDonald of host Dubuque led the Spartans to a 2-1 win over the previously unbeaten University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's soccer team in Dubuque on Wednesday night.

Dubuque (2-1) took an early 1-0 lead in the sixth minute when Ryan Zurbuchen emerged in the middle of the box for a goal. Seconds earlier, he had a shot that was saved by the Pioneers' goalkeeper Ian Christensen. The Spartans continued to pressure the UW-Platteville throughout the half en route to outshooting UW-Platteville by an 11 to 4 margin.

The Pioneers (2-1) sought out to equalize despite being outshot for the remainder of the first 45 minutes. It was not until the second half and in the 64^th minute when senior Chris Brown (pictured from 2010) scored his first goal of the season. Brown found the back of the net after he picked up a pass from Mark Ciszewski and made a quick turn-around shot that got past the Spartans' keeper to tie the contest.

Both teams looked for the game-winning goal for the remainder of the contest; however, multiple shots sailed wide until the host Spartans' Nick McDonald emerged from a scramble in the box for the game-winning goal in the 88^th minute.

Despite the loss, Christensen made six saves for the Pioneers as they were outshot by a 17 to 11 margin. Brown paced the UW-Platteville attack to share match-high honors with four shots along with the Spartans' Brandon Wiley.  

Next, UW-Platteville will next return home for its next two contests at Pioneer Stadium. First, they will host Cornell College on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m.; followed by Grinnell on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 1:30 p.m.