No, 7 UChicago Picks Up 4-3 Win at No. 17 UW-Eau Claire in Offensive Slugfest
The seventh-ranked University of Chicago men's soccer team picked up another big road win as the Maroons took down #17 UW-Eau Claire 4-3 in a offensive shutout.
The Maroons struck first in the 12th minute as Timothy Ratokhin picked off a poor pass at the back and slipped a pass over to Giovanni Caselli who slotted home the opening goal of the game.
Then, in the 38th minute, UChicago doubled its lead. George Marin found Edward Wu in the center of the pitch, and after a pair of touches towards goal, Wu ripped a strike from over 30 yards out to beat the keeper at the near post for a 2-0 lead. The Blugolds got a goal back two minutes later, but UChicago took a 2-1 lead into the halftime locker room.
Coming out of the half, the Maroons wasted no time adding an insurance goal. Caselli picked up a long ball at midfield and drove the ball towards goal. The sophomore beat four UW-Eau Claire defenders down the pitch and slotted a shot into the far post the extend the lead back to two goals at 3-1 with his brace.
The Blugolds once again narrowed the lead to one goal in the 73rd minute, but another outstanding individual effort put the game away for UChicago. Ratokhin connected with Chase Perry with a nice give-and-go, and Perry drove down the pitch, beating his first defender before side-stepping the keeper to tap in the fourth goal of the game for the Maroons. UW-Eau Claire scored its third goal of the game with just one second remaining, but UChicago held on for the 4-3 victory.
Ali Alamery made five saves in goal with two goals allowed, and Josh Nimeroff added two saves with one goal allowed in the final 18 minutes.
With the win, the Maroons improve to 8-1 overall on the season.