Pioneers Advance To Conference Championship With Win Over Captains

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Two first half goals proved to be enough as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's soccer team (13-1-5) held off Christopher Newport (10-4-2) 2-1 on Friday afternoon in the Coast-to-Coast Semifinals in Santa Cruz, California.

The Pioneers broke through for the first goal of the game in just the third minute, as sophomore Ethan Dietrich found the net for his fourth goal of the season. A couple quick passes from freshman Justin Williams and sophomore Sebastian Carranza gave Dietrich a good look, and he buried a shot with his right foot to the left of the keeper.

In the 23^rd minute, sophomore Brock Jurinek made it 2-0 in favor of UW-Platteville with his second goal of the year. The Pioneers created the scoring chance on a corner kick, with junior Alex Wano getting credit for the assist.

Christopher Newport put the pressure on in the second half, attempting 13 shots. The Captains scored once in the 55^th minute, but the Pioneers were able to maintain the one-goal edge for the final 35 minutes.

Sophomore Seth Aiken had one of his best games in goal, matching his season high in saves with eight. Five of those saves came in the second half as the Pioneers held a slim lead.

The Captains finished with a 21-5 advantage in shots, including a 10-3 mark in shots on goal. Wano paced the Pioneers in shots with two, while Dietrich, Jurinek, and junior Marcelo Garay tallied the other three.

The Pioneers will take on top-seeded Mary Washington on Sunday at noon central time. The Eagles won 2-0 over UC Santa Cruz to advance to the conference championship game earlier in the day.