Big Wins Give Volleydons Early Season Motivation

Friday, October 27, at 9 pm, the IPFW Mastodons kicked off against the Northern Illinois Huskies in what would be a hard-played and very physical match at the National Soccer Festival. The Dons played a hard game but despite Keeper Donavan Dowling’s seven saves, lost three goals. The Huskies first goal came at the twenty-sixth minute of the first half off of a free kick taken by Tim King who followed his own kick with a header to beat Dowling. The second goal would follow just four minutes later when Huskies senior midfielder Engebreth Faerden would lead a three on two assault against the Mastodons. The Mastodons scored their first and only goal at the 35 minute when Freshman Kyle Akerman sent a well placed gross into the Huskies box and a Huskie defender attempted to clear the ball with a header but found the back of the net instead. Coming into the second half with a score of 2-1, the Dons showed themselves to be a calmer team. The second half remained scoreless even after the Mastodons gained a one-man advantage when Huskie freshman Karim Darbaki got called for an overly physical play that got him a red card. What the game came down to was defense and the ability to take shots and even though the Mastodons held the Huskies for the second half, the Huskies outshot the Dons 9-3 and their two goals proved enough to hold off the Mastodons in the end.