SCSU Men’s Soccer Takes Down the Top Team in the GLIAC on Senior Day

Sunday, October 8

St. Cloud, Minn.

10:30 A.M. CT

St. Cloud State

3-6-2, 3-3-1

UW-Parkside

7-2-2, 5-1-1

Wis.-Parkside

St. Cloud St.

Philip Caputo shows off his signature celebrating after scoring

SCSU Men’s Soccer Takes Down the Top Team in the GLIAC on Senior Day

10/8/2023 8:31:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Huskies give UW-Parkside first conference loss behind goals from Caputo and Kroeten

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Soccer (3-6-2 overall, 3-3-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) picked up a 2-1 victory against UW-Parkside on Sunday afternoon in its last regular season game at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud. The Huskies got back to the win column at the end of Homecoming Weekend, after dropping Friday's match against Purdue Northwest, 3-0. UWP (7-2-2 overall, 5-1-1 GLIAC) fell for the first time in conference play this year, but remains atop the GLIAC table.

Junior midfielder Philip Caputo (Eagan, Minn.) struck early for the Huskies. Just after the 10-minute mark, he received a through ball from sophomore defender Juan Villegas (Miami, Fla.), let the ball bounce once and took a shot when the ball came back down, sending a rocket into the top of the goal, over the outstretched hand of the UWP goalkeeper.

Caputo set up the Huskies second goal as well when he was attacking the endline in the 52nd minute during the second half. He attempted to cross the ball into the middle of the field, a UW-Parkside defender was called for a handball, giving the SCSU a penalty kick. Penalty kick specialist, fifth-year midfielder Zinedine Kroeten (St. Louis Park, Minn.) stepped up to the spot for the Huskies. His initial shot was blocked by the Rangers goalkeeper, but the ball came back to his feet and he was able to take advantage of the open left side of the net and put the ball in the back of the net.

The Rangers were able to cut the lead in half 10 minutes later when they were fouled inside the penalty box and converted the subsequent penalty kick. The game produced a staggering 10 total cards – nine yellows and one red, all of which were issued in the second half.

TOP HUSKIES

Caputo played 73 minutes and scored the game-winning goal.
Kroeten scored the Huskies second goal and played 60 minutes.
Villegas earned the assist on Caputo's goal and was crucial in directing the backline along with fifth-year defender Vukota Mastilovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and fifth-year goalkeeper Dylan De Baldo (Vancouver, Wash.). All three logged the full 90 minutes.

QUOTEABLES – St. Cloud State assistant Coach Zach Neiberger

On the early goal by Philip Caputo... "Phil is an extremely explosive, talented player, especially in the final third – I think we were kind of waiting for him to see one go in and for him to have such a spectacular finish like that today really jump started our day – I'm really happy for him."

On giving UW-Parkside, who sits atop of the GLIAC table, its first conference loss... "First and foremost, UW-Parkside is extremely talented, extremely well-coached and for us to come out and really grind out a conference win, their first conference loss of the season, was big for us. It's something that we can continue to build on and hopefully we take this momentum into next week."

On maintaining consistent play during the stop-and-go flow of the second half... "Rhythm is a big thing in soccer and when a team gets a red card, just number wise, it throws things off for a little bit. The key is to be able to stabilize it and sometimes it's hard to stabilize it. I thought we did stabilize it. A lot of credit to Dylan De Baldo in net – Vukota [Mastilovic] and Juan [Villegas] were very vocal, very stable and helped keep us balanced."

On getting a win on senior day / what the seniors have meant to the young program... "Incredibly happy for the seniors – they've meant everything to the program. A lot of these guys have been around since the very first training back in 2020, so to be able to get a win for them and for them to be able to see the progress that we've been able to make throughout the past couple years is really important and I'm just happy for them."

QUOTEABLES – St. Cloud State junior midfielder Philip Caputo

On his early goal... "It was a great goal – Juan [Villegas] played a really good ball in behind and as soon as I saw the ball bouncing, I knew I was going to hit it first-time, and it went my way."

On giving UW-Parkside, who sits atop of the GLIAC table, its first conference loss... "It feels really good, it's a big confidence booster, especially a bounce back from our loss last game. We know we can compete with anybody in this conference, so we proved it today.

Looking ahead... "We look forward to building on this win, keep on going, grinding out those last-minute games and just winning every game one-by-one, winning every tackle – it's going to be a slow process but we're going to get there in the end."

On what it means to get a win on senior day... "These seniors have done everything for me. I honestly cannot thank them enough - they've helped us since day one. Z [Zinedine Kroeten], Vuke [Mastilovic], Noah [Kantorowicz], all of them – I look up to them as people and I can't wait to see what they do in the real world."

QUOTEABLES – St. Cloud State fifth-year midfielder Zinedine Kroeten

On his goal... "The last time I missed a penalty was when I was 12, I've probably made like the last 20 penalties. My name is Zinedine, but my all my friends call me 'Penadine' because I take a lot of penalties and I finally missed but lucky enough, the goalie rebounded it and I put it in. It wasn't pretty but I'm just happy to help the team out in any way."

On giving UW-Parkside, who sits atop of the GLIAC table, its first conference loss... "It feels good, these guys always come out, they like to play, they're technical – skilled team. If we punch early, we can beat any team."

Looking ahead... "I'm just looking forward to – like Phil said – building on this because a couple of weeks ago, we would have been happy with a point today, but we're building on that, and we got three points today and we showed maturity – I'm excited for more of that."

On earning a win in potentially his last ever game at Husky Stadium... "It feels great – there's no other stadium probably in DII soccer like this, with the Mississippi in the back and the hedges, it's so beautiful – I was just taking it in before the game. It was an honor to play here for all four years."

NOTABLES

The Huskies earned their first ever win over UW-Parkside and are now 1-4-1 all-time against them.
Three conference wins matches the most ever in a season (2021) and the Huskies still have three matches remaining.
Eight seniors were honored prior to the game: Vukota Mastilovic, Zinedine Kroeten, midfielder Noah Kantorowicz (Minneapolis), forward Charlie Pritchard (Ankeny, Iowa), Dylan De Baldo, defender Evan Stearns (Thornton, Colo.), defender Riley Wood (Ankeny, Iowa) and forward Jonas Luskey Sanders (Madison, Wis.).
The Rangers led the game in total shots (21-14), shots on goal (10-6) and corner kicks (10-6).
SCSU led in saves (9-4).
Caputo's goal was his first of the season and seventh in his career (1 in 2021, five in 2022)...recorded a season-high four shots and two shots on goal.
Kroeten scored for the third time this season and recorded his second game-winning goal of the year...sixth career goal (third game-winner)...42nd career start.
Villegas earned his first career assist in his 22nd collegiate match (10th for the Huskies)...played 90 minutes for the sixth time this year and second in a row while making his eighth consecutive start...recorded his first shot of the season.
Mastilovic logged 90 minutes for the 10th time this season (nine in a row) and 33rd in his career...46 starts in as many matches for the Huskies.
De Baldo earned his 15th career win (third for the Huskies)...made a season-high nine saves after facing a career-high 20 shots...played 90 minutes for the ninth match in a row and 10th time overall this season.
Junior defender Noah Eklund (Andover, Minn.) logged 90 minutes for the fifth time this season and 26th time in his career...played his 25th match in a Huskies uniform.
Redshirt freshman midfielder Andrew Holmes (St. Cloud, Minn.) played 90 minutes for the fifth time this season in his seventh consecutive start.
Junior midfielder Nolan Pratumwon (Mahtomedi, Minn.) played 90 minutes for sixth time this season and ninth time in his career...tied his season-high for shots (two).
Sophomore defender Owen Worsdell (Brighton, England) logged 90 minutes for the sixth time this season and ninth time in his career.

UP NEXT

The Huskies head to Michigan next weekend where they play Davenport on Friday Oct. 13 and Saginaw Valley State on Sunday. Friday's game kicks off at 6 p.m. CT and Sunday's match is slated to begin at 10 a.m. CT. Links to the livestreams (note – a paid subscription is required) and live stats for the matches can be found on the SCSU Men's Soccer Schedule 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.