UNIVERSITY CENTER - The Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer team welcomed the nation's 15th-ranked team in Lewis University to Braddock Field in a season-opening regional tilt. The Cardinals, using solid defense throughout and a pair of first half goals, claimed the opener by a score of 2-0 to begin the season strong.
Senior Craig Neal got things going for SVSU, as he used a feed in front of the net from freshman Aleksandar Isaevski to find the back of the net for the team's first goal of the season. The score, coming 11:03 into the contest, gave the Cardinals the 1-0 advantage.
Almost 19 minutes later in the first half, Neal would flip a shot over a Lewis defender that rattled off the crossbar of the Flyer goal. Freshman Matthew Lang was there to clean-up though, as he got the rebound and scored his first-career goal for the Cards to extend the lead to 2-0. It was Neal's first assist of the season.
That was all the Cardinal defense would need for the match, as the defense allowed just eight shots and freshman goalkeeper Alexandre Bouillennec stopped all five shots the Flyers put on goal to earn his first-career victory.
"I was happy with the energy and sharpness we came out with in the first half and think we earned the goals that put us in a good position," said SVSU Head Coach Cale Wassermann. "We still have a lot to work on and are battling a few injuries but we look forward to building on this for Saturday. I was extremely happy getting a shutout, and that's a testament to solid team defending and some great goalkeeping today."
The victory puts SV at 1-0-0 for the early season while the Flyers are 0-1-0. Saginaw Valley continues the season with a home match on Saturday (9/6) against the Cedarville Yellowjackets. Match time is set for 1:00 pm at SVSU's Braddock Field.
