Gutsy effort earns Huskies 4-2 Homecoming win over Purdue Northwest

Friday, October 15

St. Cloud, Minn.

7 p.m.

St. Cloud State

4-7-1, 3-5-0

Purdue Northwest

6-5-0, 5-3-0

Purdue Northwest

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

Gutsy effort earns Huskies 4-2 Homecoming win over Purdue Northwest

10/15/2021 9:55:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Soccer put on a fantastic display of effort and skill on Friday evening, utilizing late-game heroics to upend Purdue Northwest 4-2 to open Homecoming Weekend. Zinedine Kroeten scored three ticks into the 80th minute on an incredible possession and feed by Nolan Pratumwon to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead, then Emmanuel Iwe rocketed home a dish from Philip Caputo with 65 seconds to play for the knockout blow. Gage Steiner made seven saves including a pair of herculean diving stops to secure the win. Vukota Mastilovic scored a goal and added two assists, while Charlie Pritchard scored an unassisted marker on a booming left-footed boot to round out the scoring.

TURNING POINT

Even at 2-2 approaching the final 10 minutes of play, Vukota Mastilovic directed a pass to Nolan Pratumwon up the right sideline. Pratumwon darted his way around a defender then threaded the ball through another's legs before sliding across to Zinedine Kroeten. SCSU's midfielder finished strong from a step inside the box, giving the Huskies a lead they would never relinquish.

TOP HUSKIES

• Vukota Mastilovic scored a goal and added two assists.
• Emmanuel Iwe, Zinedine Kroeten and Charlie Pritchard each found the back of the net.
• Gage Steiner piled up seven stops in the win.
• Bryant Alexander, Emmanuel Iwe, Cullen McSweeney, Charlie Pritchard, Vukota Mastilovic, Eddie Saydee and Andres Garcia all logged 90 minutes on the pitch.

NOTES

• Emmanuel Iwe and Andres Garcia led in shots with six, putting four and three on goal respectively.
• The Huskies led 11-10 in shots on goal.

QUOTABLES

St. Cloud State Men's Soccer Head Coach Sean Holmes

"Tonight's game was extremely representative of our entire season, our program and where we are right now. The first 15-20 minutes were absolutely fantastic. We kept the ball, we moved the ball, we created chances, I was extremely proud. And then we didn't have the concentration and tenacity to keep doing it, which is hard for all teams, especially young teams. We let them back into the game – you felt that goal was always coming. The second half, we hung on. When we're good we're good, and when we're bad we're bad. Our highs can be a little too high and our lows can get a little too low. When it was 2-2, our team two weeks ago would have lost that game. That's no different than Parkside or whoever it may be. Tonight we found ways to solve it, we found some grit and resilience. To score not one but two great goals to make it 4-2 was fantastic. We probably spent more energy than was necessary, but that was a real momentum builder. It would have been so easy to collapse, but we didn't. I thought Gage Steiner made a couple big-time saves, Eddie Saydee and Vukota Mastilovic. Our leading scorer this season, Andres Garcia, didn't show up on the scoring sheet but I felt his creativity led to our goals. He was the architect, if you will. A breakthrough performance for Philip Caputo, he was the best player on the field in the first half and made a real difference. We had good guys jump off the bench, and that's a good sign we're maturing. I look forward to peparing for Sunday."

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State closes out their homestand and Homecoming Weekend with a Sunday tilt against Davenport. The game will start at 12:00 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on the NSIC Network.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Soccer, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.