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Sports Brief:Soccer kicks off MWC play with win

BY DAN HARDIN

The men's soccer team has turned things around after opening the season with two straight losses, going 3-1-2 in their six matches since. After beating Cornell on Sept. 12, the Pioneers dropped a match to Central College before beating Buena Vista, tying St. Thomas and beating Monmouth.

The Pioneers topped Buena Vista 4-2 last Saturday. After trailing 1-0 at the half, Grinnell came out firing with Andrew Stephenson '10 scoring the tying goal in the 62nd minute. Newcomer Justin Koester '09 scored the go-ahead goal in the 69th minute, only to see Buena Vista even the score at 2-2 with ten minutes left. Leading scorer Andrew Walsh '09 then exploded for two goals in the final four minutes to give the Pioneers the victory.

The next day, Grinnell faced off against a tough St. Thomas team that came in with a 4-1 record. Cole Henderson '07, the team's co-leader in goals, provided the lone goal for Grinnell with just two minutes to play, and the teams battled to a 1-1 tie. Parker Koester '09, brother of Justin Koester, provided the assist.

The Pioneers kept their hot streak going Wednesday, opening Midwest Conference play with a 1-0 victory over Monmouth College. It was the second shutout of the year for goalkeeper Sam Lancaster '08, who lowered his goals-against average to 1.29.

"What's great is we have gotten the results and we still aren't clicking yet," Walsh said. "When we do, we should get the results every time."

Henderson was much less analytical in his response.

"We won, and it was cool," said the senior.

The Pioneers (3-3-2, 1-0 MWC) face a tough task in their conference home opener this weekend as the undefeated Beloit Buccaneers come to town with a 3-0-1 record (2-0 MWC). Kickoff is 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the soccer complex.

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