By: Josh Sinclair

Sept. 21, 2016

The UW-Whitewater men’s soccer team was able to escape defeat from all three opponents last week to continue the season’s hot start.

The Warhawks tied Luther College 2-2, before heading on the road where they defeated Westminster and Webster University by a total of seven goals.

“These wins will help us push forward with a lot of team confidence,” senior Justin Stanko said. “We have the talent, the drive and the make of what can make a great team.”

The first match of the week was a contest against Luther College, in Whitewater.

Whitewater (3-1-2) got on the board in the fifth minute when senior forward Dylan Hottsmith tracked down a 50-50 ball and headed it into the net for an early 1-0 UW-W lead.

The rest of the half remained competitive, but ended scoreless.

Luther then tied the game in the 63rd minute after a goal by Myles Norville, and then took a 2-1 lead five minutes later when the Luther Norse’s leading scorer Aidan O’Driscoll netted his third goal of the season.

Hottsmith was able to save the Warhawks in the 87th minute, scoring on a pass from Alex Whiteman to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Neither team got a shot at the goal in the final 10 minutes, to finish the game in a tie.

The Warhawks then took to the road down to Missouri for a weekend road trip to take on Westminster and Webster University.

“We had an amazing trip to St. Louis this weekend,” Stanko said. “We got to experience the Lincoln [Emancipation] Memorial and great outdoor ethnic food markets, to go along with two great wins.”

First up was the contest against Westminster, where the Warhawks came out victorious, blanking the Blue Jays 3-0.

“Our goal as a team is to not give up any goals,” Stanko said. “Yes, we give up a goal every now and then, but we go out on the field believing that we are going to give up no goals.”

Sophomore midfielder Deklan Corbett had more of an offensive mindset. He put the Warhawks on the board with his third collegiate goal in the fourth minute of play.

Approaching the end of the first half, senior Michael Salm earned his fourth assist of the season when he tossed a ball in from the sideline and it found the head of his co-captain, Stanko, who knocked it in for a 2-0 lead.

“We have two great captains right now,” Stanko said. “I believe our five seniors can lead this team to great success.”

UW-W added to their lead in the 48th minute when freshman defender Acasio Roche found a ball in the box and knocked it in for a 3-0 advantage.

The Warhawk bus traveled down highway 55 to the Gateway to the West, St. Louis, Missouri, to take on Webster University.

The Warhawks took five shots in a row to start the contest and were unable to convert, but on the sixth try, senior Owen Thompson found Justin Stanko and he tacked on his third goal of the season.

The Warhawks in the 70th minute of play put another one in the back of the net when Stanko continued his streak and scored on an assist by Salm to make it 2-0.

Freshman forward Hozai Ceballos scored the first goal of his career in the 71st minute to give the Warhawks a 3-0 lead.

Ceballos then followed up with the first assist of his career as the Warhawks scored one more to post a 4-0 final score.

Head coach Tony Guinn could not be reached by press time.

Next up for the Warhawks is a visit from Carthage College at 7 p.m. today, at Fiskum Field.