ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The No. 20-ranked Northwestern College men's soccer team (15-2-1, 10-1 GPAC) downed the Mount Marty Lancers (6-9-1, 4-7 GPAC) 5-0 in the Quarterfinals of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) men's soccer tournament behind two goals from
Niklas Fitter (Fr., Sankt Augustin, Germany/Rhein Sieg Gymnasium), to advance to the semifinals for the second time in as many years.
Northwestern dominated the match from the very start, tallying a total of 25 shots on the match to Mount Marty's 10 shots. It marks the fourth time this season the Raider attack has put up 20+ goals in a match. The Raiders put 12 shots on goal, finding the back of the net five times.
"The first time we played Mount Marty this season we lacked focus and it ended up being a very close game," said head coach
Dan Swier. "The guys were focused for this one and they turned in a complete performance. It's always fun to win in the playoffs!"
Adam De Boer (So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) broke the deadlock in the 31
st minute to net the game-winning goal. The Raiders would end the half with that 1-0 advantage.
The scoring would pick up again in the 75
th minute, as
Luke Happer (Fr., Overland Park, Kan./Saint James Academy) nets his second goal of the season on an unassisted goal. Seven minutes later, Fitter would net his first goal of the evening to extend the Raider advantage to 3-0.
The Raiders piled on two goals in the final minute of play as Fitter picked up his second goal of the night at 89:32, and 16 seconds later
Ryan Wager (Sr., Huron, S.D./James Valley Christian) netted the fifth and final Raider goal.
Brennan Haggerty (Sr., Freeman, S.D./Freeman Academy) tallied two assists on the night, both of them being Fitter's goals (82' and 90').
Ezekiel Foltz (Jr., Sioux Center, Iowa/Sioux Center) improves his season record to 15-2-1 as he picked up four saves on the match, stopping all the Lancers shots on goal.
Up Next: The Raiders will take on the No. 4-seed Morningside Mustangs (12-6, 8-3 GPAC) Saturday, November 6 with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at the NWC Soccer Complex.
