Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the Columbia College men's soccer team was back on the field when they traveled to Belleville, Illinois to face the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx in an AMC matchup. The Cougars defeated the Lynx by a final score of 4-1 to improve to 7-4-1 on the season and 6-0 in the AMC.
Prior to the match, the NAIA national office announced the sixth Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll of the 2018 season. The Cougars, who were ranked 23rd in the last poll, have dropped from the Top 25 and are now receiving votes. Since the last poll, Columbia netted a 7-0 win against the Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.) Lions.
After one half of soccer the teams found themselves knotted at zero. Each team had a couple opportunities to find the net, but neither was able to execute as they headed into halftime with goose eggs on the board. Columbia had four shots with one on goal, while the Lynx had three shots with two on goal. Harrisskitt had two saves on the night so far and the Lynx goalkeeper had snagged one for himself.
Coming out for the second half, the Cougars were looking to get something started and they did just that. At the 58:14 mark, Juan Pablo Agredo was able to connect with Joey Koetting who hit the back of the net to give Columbia the 1-0 lead. As the half continued, a foul committed by the Cougars, awarded the Lynx with a penalty kick which they capitalized on to tie the game 1-1 in the 63rd minute. A little under 10 minutes later, however, Adam Du Toit put Columbia back on top 2-1. Just a minute after that, the Koetting-Agredo duo struck again as Koetting scored his second goal of the game and the Cougars now led 3-1 with some breathing room. Columbia put the nail in the coffin as Parker Moon found Joey Spotanski who hit the fourth goal of the game for the Cougars. After a strong second half, the Cougars secured a 4-1 victory over the Lynx.
Ryan Harrisskitt (6-1-1) was in goal today for the Cougars, recording three saves on the night.
The men's soccer team is back in action on Saturday, October 13th when they host the Missouri Baptist University Spartans in an AMC contest. The match will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at R. Marvin Owens Field.
