No. 9 Men's Soccer Plays Midland to a Scoreless Draw

Fremont, Neb., (Sept. 7, 2024)- The No. 9 Missouri Valley College men's soccer team traveled to Fremont, Neb., to play Midland (Neb.) in a non-conference game Saturday evening.  The Vikings were unable to find a game-winner, and finished with a scoreless draw, 0-0.

The two teams traded possession through the early minutes of the game.  Junior Midfielder Julius Kruger (Berlin, Germany) had a shot blocked with nine minutes played, while Sophomore Forward Kerim Akpinar (Bremen, Germany) had an attempt blocked nearly two minutes later.  Junior Goalkeeper Cristobal Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) made a pair of saves through the 20-minute mark to keep Midland off the scoreboard.  Benitez Delgado came up with his third save of the half, with just over seven minutes remaining, while Freshman Midfielder Rodrigo Diaz (Chicago, Ill.) put the first shot on goal for MVC more than one minute later.  The final shot of the half came with three minutes remaining, as the attempt from Freshman Forward Oliver Baladi (Frederikssund, Denmark) was saved, and the teams went into halftime tied at 0-0.

Missouri Valley created the better of chances through the opening eight minutes of the second half.  Junior Forward Leul Alfagame (Madrid, Spain) put a shot on goal less than one minute after the restart, while Senior Midfielder Yoshiki Igarashi (Tokyo, Japan) had a pair of shots saved through the 51-minute mark.  Senior Goalkeeper Marcal Aspas (Barcelona, Spain) came in as keeper, and made a save with just over 20-miutes played in the half.  Alfagame came close to breaking the deadlock midway through play, as his shot hit off the crossbar.  Aspas needed to make two more saves in the half to keep Midland from taking the lead, the latest stop coming with less than three minutes to play.  Both Senior Defender Kazuki Hashimoto (Yokohama, Japan) and Senior Midfielder Malik Hasanovic (Skopje, North Macedonia) put shots on goal late in the game, but the attempts were saved.  The teams eventually finished out a 0-0 tie.

The pair of Benitez Delgado and Aspas combined for the shutout, making three saves each.  Missouri Valley held a 20-15 advantage in shots and a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.

The tie moves Missouri Valley to 2-1-1 on the season, while Midland sits at 2-2-2.

Up next, the Viking men's soccer team will host Harris-Stowe (Mo.) in a non-conference game, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., inside Volney C. Ashford stadium.

Box Score-Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.

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