DES MOINES, IOWA — As the Men's Soccer season comes to an end, Grand View hosted Clarke University at Cownie Soccer Complex on Halloween Night. Clarke came away with three points after beating the Vikings 3-2.
After other results did not go in favor of the Vikings, unfortunately, their fate was already decided, and they would miss out on the 2024 conference tournament. Thus, it would be easy for Grand View to down-tools for this game. However, it was clear that the players wanted to end the season on a positive note, especially for those seniors playing their last-ever collegiate game. An early goal in the first half was a common trend for the Vikings this season, and in this match-up, it would be Clarke who took the lead in the 5th minute after a long, searching ball split the defense and the forward rounded the Vikings' keeper to make it 1-0. Despite this early goal, Grand View would see large amounts of the ball, with the interplay of seniors Samuel Londono and Lier Ayarza causing the Clarke defense difficulties. However, in the 25th minute, Clarke would break again and made it 2-0 on the night. Grand View decided to make some changes, with the introduction of Warren Sung, Kai McPeak, Martin Launay, Marco Kramer, and Joshua Grosser. This enabled the Vikings to get in behind the Clarke defense, and it felt like every attack the Vikings threatened to score. Senior goalkeeper Scott Pengelly made some good stops at the end of the half to keep the score at 2-0 Clarke.
In the 2nd half, Grand View continued to control the ball, and in the 53rd minute, a corner swung in by Ayarza met the leaping Londono, whose header powered past the Clarke goalkeeper at the near post. Matheus Martins Silva continued to provide a physical presence in the final third and tested the goalkeeper on a couple of occasions. In the 68th minute, it was a corner that would be Grand View's downfall once again, as Clarke made it 3-1. Changes were made again in the 2nd half, and a fantastic run in the 79th minute by Clement Scaccia resulted in a penalty that was slotted away by Benedikt Zechmeister to reduce the deficit back to 1. As the clock ran down, Grand View searched for the equalizer, but unfortunately, this game would end in a 3-2 defeat for the Vikings, ending the Men's Soccer season with a final record of 5-8-5.
SCORING SUMMARY
4:27 – CLARKE – Luke Persenico
24:34 – CLARKE – Luke Persenico
52:53 – GRAND VIEW – Samuel Londono (Assist: Lier Ayarza)
67:17 – CLARKE – Nadji Rebai
78:46 – GRAND VIEW – Benedikt Zechmeister (Assist: Clement Scaccia)
MATCH NOTES
· 11 Seniors appeared in their last game for Grand View
· Both sides totaled 16 shots each on the night
· Benedikt Zechmeister grabbed his 4th goal of the season
