No. 21 Olivet Nazarene tops St. Ambrose
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
No. 21 Olivet Nazarene (6-1-0, 2-0-0) | 1 | 3 | 4 |
|
St. Ambrose (1-4-0, 0-1-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
St. Ambrose stayed with No. 21 Olivet Nazarene for 38 minutes Tuesday night in Davenport. The Tigers scored at the 38:05 mark in the first half and added three more goals in the second to take a 4-1 conference victory at the St. Vincent's Athletic Complex. The loss drops SAU to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the CCAC, while ONU moves to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
Both teams had chances in the first 15 minutes of the game. Jorge Brizuela's shot was saved by the ONU keeper in the 13th minute, and Zach Bauer made a save for the Bees in the 14th minute to keep the game even. Bauer recorded three more saves in the first half before the Tigers got the breakthrough. Alexis Mancera scored in the 39th minute on a long-range shot to take a 1-0 lead. Following the goal, Trent Fitzpatrick saw his header go wide as SAU would trail by one at the halftime break.
Olivet and St. Ambrose traded chances to begin the second, with Fitzpatrick recording each of the opportunities for SAU. ONU doubled their lead in the 58th minute after Justin Eisenmann got around two Bee defenders in the box. Eisenmann would make it 3-0 for the Tigers in the 61st minute. Brizuela had a chance in the 62nd minute to get a goal back, but his attempt was saved. Eisenmann would get a hat-trick for Olivet in the 65th minute and give the visitors a 4-0 lead. Brizuela was able to find the back of the net for St. Ambrose in the 83rd minute on a shot from just outside the box to account for the 4-1 final.
Brizuela finished with seven shots, Fitzpatrick had four, and Ryan Evans recorded one. Bauer finished with six saves for SAU.
St. Ambrose will look for their first conference win on Saturday in Davenport, taking on Saint Xavier at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Vincent's Athletic Complex.
