The No. 13 Lindenwood men's soccer team defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks 3-0 on Saturday afternoon from Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo. With the victory, the Lions guarantee themselves no worse than a tie for the MIAA regular season title. The win also extends Lindenwood's winning-streak to 12 games.
Lindenwood seized control of the game early in the first half, as
Xhovani Dokaj netted his MIAA-leading 16th goal of the season just 2:35 into the match.
Nikolas Kondic was credited with the assist on Dokaj's socre. With the goal, Dokaj became the MIAA's all-time single-season leader in goals scored.
The Lions continued to apply pressure on the offensive end of the field for the entirety of the first half. Lindenwood sent four shots on goal over the opening 45 minutes of play, while Upper Iowa tallied two. The Lions rang three separate shots off of the cross bar during the first half, including two strikes from Dokaj and one from
Nijaz Muratovic.
Lindenwood carried the one-goal lead into halftime.
The Lions have two terrific scoring opportunities thwarted by the Upper Iowa goalkeeper to begin the second half. Dokaj and Muratovic were each stopped on point blank opportunities, as the score held at 1-0.
As the match moved into the 72nd minute, the Lions extended their lead to a two-goal margin.
Kyle Weinrich fired a shot towards the Upper Iowa goal that deflected off of a Peacock defender into the back of the net.
Shortly after the own goal, in the 75th minute, Lindenwood built itself a three-goal lead.
Adnan Mahmutovic notched his third goal of the season as he headed a loose ball into the lower left corner of the net. Weinrich and
Ingram Tolish were credited with the assists on the score.
Aleksa Nenadic made the start in goal for Lindenwood, turning in three saves, en route to his 13th victory of the season. Nenadic has now recorded three shutouts on the season.
In the end, Lindenwood held the edge in shots (29-11), shots on goal (10-3), and corner kicks (9-5).
Following the victory, Lindenwood improved its record to 13-2-2 on the season and 7-0-0 from within the MIAA. With the loss, Upper Iowa moves to 6-9-0 this season and 3-4-0 in conference action. Lindenwood will conclude its regular season schedule at Hunter Stadium on Sunday, November 6 at 1:00 p.m. The Lions will host the Fort Hays State Tigers in a battle of the MIAA's top-two teams.
