The UW-Eau Claire men’s soccer team hosted the Division III Sectional matches on Friday and Saturday Nov. 15-16. They defeated Lake Forest College by a score of 5-0 on Friday afternoon and won an overtime thriller against Hope College by a final score of 1-0. 

After Saturday’s victory, it was the second time in the four-year program history that the Blugolds advanced to the Sweet 16. 

The regional game kicked off on Friday against Lake Forest College. The Blugolds wasted no time in scoring, as in the 12th minute, third-year defense/midfield Carson Kowalski scored the opening goal on an assist from fourth-year midfielder Carter Thiesfeld. 

Second-year midfielder Noah Malcook struck seven minutes later as he tallied his second goal of the afternoon on a header off a corner kick by Thiesfeld. The first-half scoring was capped off in the 40th minute by second-year forward Andrew Phillips. 

Blugolds head coach Casey Holm said he emphasized for his team to get out on the attack early and often in the first half to set the tempo for the entire game. 

“We want to put our opponents on their heels and let them know that they’re playing at our place,” Holm said. “Throughout the season, every time that we’ve scored first our results have been phenomenal.” 

After three first-half goals, the Blugolds continued their aggressive offensive approach in the second half as they tallied two more goals to conclude their opening victory in the NCAA Regional Round. 

Malcook tallied his second goal of the afternoon in the 57th minute and the scoring concluded in the 76th minute as fourth-year forward Porter Ball found the back of the net. 

While the Blugolds tallied five goals over the course of the afternoon, Kowalski and his teammates were more pleased with the team’s defensive effort as they tallied a shutout. 

“As defenders, that’s kind of our goal to get clean sheets,” Kowalski said. “I honestly would say scoring a goal is cool, but I think when a team gets a goose egg, that’s above scoring a goal.” 

After Friday’s matchup, the Blugolds awaited the winner of the second game that afternoon between DePauw University and Hope College. Hope College won the game by a final score of 2-0 and set up a matchup to determine who would advance to the sectional semifinals. 

Saturday’s matchup between two of the top programs in D3 men’s soccer proved to be an instant classic as both teams put on strong defensive showings in the first 90 minutes of this contest. 

Despite the Blugolds outshooting the Flying Dutchmen by a count of 12-4, the defense for Hope College held the Blugolds scoreless in the regulation period. 

The game advanced into overtime, and as the overtime period was running out and heading for a penalty kick shootout, first-year forward Tate McDermott scored off a rebound from first-year Tobias Volkmann, helping the Blugolds punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. 

For McDermott, he said there was a sense of relief in the team’s efforts on the offensive side of the ball finally being paid off in overtime before they would’ve had a penalty kick shootout. 

“We were pushing. I thought we were on the front foot, especially in that second half, and then we did a good job to finally get on the end of one,” McDermott said. “We had tons of chances, but it was good to finally put one away before penalties.” 

According to Holm, hosting this portion of the tournament on their home field played a critical role for the team’s success this weekend as fans, fellow student-athletes, other students and families of the players were out in full force for this weekend’s games. 

For Holm, he was very appreciative of the support that the team received over the weekend from the fans and student-athletes alike. 

“It’s a ton of fun to see all the student-athletes and other students come out and support the team,” Holm said. “We’re very excited to advance forward in the tournament and keep receiving all that support.” 

The Blugolds march to the NCAA Final Four will continue as they face conference opponent UW-Platteville in the Sweet 16 at 3:30 pm on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Simpson Field. 

Mikalofsky can be reached at [email protected].