SCSU Men’s Soccer Earns Road Tie After More Late-Game Set Piece Heroics

Sunday, October 15

University Center, Mich.

10:00 A.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Saginaw Valley State

Owen Worsdell scored his second goal of the season today.

SCSU Men’s Soccer Earns Road Tie After More Late-Game Set Piece Heroics

10/15/2023 3:46:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Worsdell scores Huskies lone goal in 1-1 draw at Saginaw Valley State

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – St. Cloud State Men's Soccer (3-6-4 overall, 3-3-3 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) tied Saginaw Valley State 1-1 on Sunday afternoon at Robert C. Braddock Field in University Center, Mich. With the result, the Huskies are on track to host a GLIAC Tournament match for the first time in program history.

Saginaw Valley State (4-5-4 overall, 2-3-3 GLIAC) got on the board early, netting a goal just nine minutes into the match to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The game remained 1-0 until the Huskies were able to score another late game goal off of a corner kick. In the 84th minute, junior midfielder Philip Caputo (Eagan, Minn.) sent in a right-footed in-swinging corner kick that was headed down by sophomore midfielder Alesio Kacaj (Toronto, Ontario) to the feet of sophomore defender Owen Worsdell (Brighton, England). Worsdell settled the ball quickly and sent a first-time left-footed shot at the goal. His shot found the back of the net to bring the game back to an even scoreline.

TOP HUSKIES

Worsdell scored the game-tying goal and played 88 minutes.
Kacaj recorded the first assist on the goal and played 20 minutes.
Caputo earned the second assist after sending in the corner kick that led to the goal, played 77 minutes and recorded three shots.

QUOTEABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Sean Holmes

"That game right there just typifies what Sunday's look like in conference play. We've driven a long way, the weather has been tough all weekend long but we really responded in a super positive way. We gave up an early goal – we looked a bit out of sorts – then we kept playing away, we never really panicked. I wouldn't say we were completely composed in the first half, but we just kept going and grinding and grinding and grinding and got the goal with seven minutes left in the game. To be fair, the red card with 39 minutes left for them made a difference – gave us a little bit of confidence – but they played with a little extra oomph as well, for a while so I'm really happy with the guys...I'm proud – to go on the road, late in the season, in tough weather, in new places and get with two ties is absolutely fantastic. Proud of our effort – terrific."

On players that stood out... "Dylan De Baldo came up with a couple of big time saves that made a difference for us...Vuke [Mastilovic] was the consummate leader today in terms of the way he played and how he led the guys. Nolan [Pratumwon] was good. Philip Caputo, Z [Zinedine Kroeten], Mika [Folstad], Yuken [Harmon], so many guys kept attacking and doing positive things and once again, as is necessary in a long season, you need guys to come off the bench and it's a squad effort – it's not 11 guys, its 14, 15, 16, 17 guys – we had lots of guys pitch in and do a good job."

NOTABLES

With the tie, the Huskies are now 0-4-2 all-time against Saginaw Valley State. SCSU played the Cardinals to a draw in both 2023 matchups.
SCSU led the game in shots (14-13), saves (3-2) and corner kicks (8-5).
The Cardinals led the game in shots on goal (4-3).
Worsdell's goal was his second of the season and the seventh of his career...30th career start in as many games.
Kacaj earned his first career assist and point in his ninth collegiate appearance (fourth as a Husky after making five with West Virginia Wesleyan in 2022).
Caputo recorded his team-leading fourth assist of the season...ninth career assist...second straight game with an assist...third straight game recording a point.
Fifth-year defender Vukota Mastilovic (Belgrade, Serbia) logged 90 minutes for the 12th time this season (11 in a row) and the 35th time in his career...started every match in a Husky uniform (48 matches).
Fifth-year goalkeeper Dylan De Baldo (Vancouver, Wash.) faced 13 shots and made three saves allowing only one goal while playing all 90 minutes for the 11th match in a row (12th time this season).
Sophomore defender Juan Villegas (Miami, Fla.) played 90 minutes for the fourth consecutive game and eighth total time this season...tenth consecutive start.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will travel to Marquette, Mich. next Sunday, Oct. 22 to play Northern Michigan in its final regular season GLIAC game. The only match of the week for the Huskies will kick off at noon CT. Links to the livestream (note – a paid subscription is required) and live stats for the match can be found on the SCSU Men's Soccer page.

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.