Carlinville, IL 10/5/2022- The Westminster College men's soccer team took on the Blackburn College Beavers in a Tuesday afternoon matinee. The Blue Jays were in control for most of the game. The Beavers would make it close late, but the Jays were able to prevail and win their second game of the season, 4-2. Westminster improves to 2-8-1 on the season and 2-4-1 in the SLIAC. Blackburn falls to 4-4-3 on the season and 1-3-3 in the SLIAC.
The Blue Jays were coming off a 0-0 draw to Spalding University and were looking to score some goals. They would have no problem doing that early in this game. Adam Luetkemeyer (Wentzville, MO / Timberland) would beat the Beavers goalie and get his 3rd goal of the season, putting Westminster up 1-0 at the 12:24 mark. Freshman forward Travis Bieg (Villa Ridge, MO / Washington) would follow suit and put the Blue Jays up 2-0. They would take that lead into the break. The Blue Jays took seven shots in the first half and held the Beavers to just one.
Westminster would go up 3-0 early in the second half after Niklas Olsson (Kansas City, MO / Liberty) scored off an assist from Nolan Deane (Eureka, MO / Eureka). The Blue Jays seemed to be coasting to their second win of the season. The Beavers refused to lay down on their home field and be shut out. Not only would they not get shut out, but they would score back-to-back goals within minutes of each other to trail by only one goal. With the score 3-2 and twenty-five minutes and some change left to play, the Blue Jays had to respond or risk having the game tied.
Luetkemeyer found the answer at the 79-minute mark. He would pass the ball up to Bieg after a Beaver turnover. Bieg hit a great through ball and Luetkemeyer was all alone on the left side of the field. He was one on one with the Beaver's keeper, and he would score on a perfect ball to the bottom right post for his second goal of the game. His shot put the Blue Jays up 4-2 and gave them a commanding two-goal lead with ten minutes left to play in the game. Westminster would go on to win with the final 4-2 and pick up their second win of the season.
The Beavers would outshoot the Blue Jays nine to six in the second half. The Blue Jays would outshoot the Beavers thirteen to ten for the game. Toby Hughes (Jefferson City, MO / Jefferson City) got the start in goal for the Jays. He would make five saves on seven shots.
The Blue Jays will be back in action on Saturday, October 8th when they take on the Eureka College Red Devils at Blue Jay Field. That game is set to kick off at 3:00 PM
