Brian Woodard never recalled having four straight shutouts in his soccer career. He is one shutout way from accomplishing that goal. On a wet Saturday evening in Soccer Park, the Webster University Gorloks defeated the Greenville College (Ill.) Panthers for the first time since 2010 with a 3-0 victory.
The shutout was almost not meant to be late in the first half. Woodard slid across the slippery turf to steal a goal from Greenville’s junior forward Jordan York. York’s shot came off of a deflection from senior midfielder Jacob Krisher.
“(York) got a knee off of the ball and deflected it two yards the other way. Luckily I had been in my step and not (jumping) in the air. That way I was able to shift my weight to the other side and make a sliding catch,” Woodard said.
It’s the Gorlok’s fourth straight shutout, and Woodard’s third. Freshman Zach Horn received his first shutout last Saturday against Eureka.
Two of the three Gorlok goals came off of headers from senior forward Pat McCaffrey, and junior midfielder Jeff Wallner. McCaffrey scored three minutes into the game with a header at the free kick spot. The cross came in from midfielder Kris Brown. McCaffrey said he doesn’t usually score a bunch of headers, and it was just a great ball in by Brown.
Junior midfielder Jeff Wallner scored his second goal of the season off of a header from midfielder Josh Papes.
Mens soccer Head Coach Michael Siener said it takes a player with certain skills to execute a difficult finish.
“The guys who have done it, and have done it well are the ones who keep their eyes open, and they square their head on the goal,” Siener said.
The Gorloks improve to 2-0 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and 7-2-3 overall. The Gorloks visit Blackburn College (Ill.) next Saturday, October 12.
Share this post
