Photo by Jakob Komel
Article by Marcus Fernandes
Lawrenceville, Ga. - On Monday, the McPherson College men's soccer team stepped on the field for their second preseason game in Georgia, taking on Tennessee Wesleyan University on a neutral pitch. After a painful 1-0 loss, on Saturday, against one of the best sides in the league, the Bulldogs were looking forward to taking a good result home.
 The game was how everyone was expecting. The Bulldogs tried to have the ball for the most part while TWU was seated in the defense, looking for an opportunity to counter-attack. The Bulldogs' challenge in the game was having patience on the ball until finding the right moment to penetrate Tennessee Wesleyan's defense. After a couple of good possessional attacks, the bulldogs finally broke TWU's defense. After a build-up play in the middle zone, Jr. Justin Clemons took a good shot from the edge of the box, and Fr. Abdul Kanu was there to give the lead to the Bulldogs on the rebound.
The goal did not change the dynamics of the game at all. The Bulldogs had the ball for the most part, and Tennessee Wesleyan only created chances to score on mistakes from the McPherson team. Between the pipes, So. Colby Swift had another remarkable performance and secured the clean sheet for the Bulldogs. The goalkeeper had two crucial saves that gave tranquility to the Bulldogs, helping them to find the second goal. With 20 minutes to the end of the game, So. Daniel Connell played a through ball on the air, exploring Sr. Rodrigo de Castro's speed. The forward let the ball bounce once and finished on a volley. With two goals up, the Bulldogs just administrated the advantage until the final whistle.
Bulldog Head coach Doug Quint gave his thoughts on the experience in Georgia, "First of all, I am very proud of the boys. What a way of fighting the elements and ignore all the adversities to present two good performances! We played against two top-notch teams in the NAIA after driving for two days and being 14 hours away from home".
Coach Quint also expressed how happy he was with the team's performance today, " It was a solid performance from us today. I was pleased to see how our team controlled the game from the beginning and dictated the rhythm. Offensively we scored two nice goals, and defensively we got a clean sheet".
 The Bulldogs are leaving Georgia 1-1 and 3-1 on the season. On Saturday, they are on the road one more time for an important match. They will head to Nebraska to play 8th ranked Bellevue University at 7 p.m.
