ST. CHARLES, Mo.- Lindenwood Men's Soccer got back into the win column on Thursday evening as they defeated Incarante Word by a score of 2-0 at Hunter Stadium. The Lions came out of the gates slow in the first half as they took four shots in the opening 45 minutes of play, but got things going late in the first half that carried over into the second half to pick up three points in the OVC standings. 

With less than three minutes to go in the first half, Gavin Csiszar fired a shot from just outside of the box that would be blocked by a Cardinal defender. On the blocked shot, the ball bounced straight up into the air that allowed for Josh Francombe to settle underneath of it to make a play. As the ball came down, Francombe sent a header towards the box where Ethan Blake was all alone. Blake fired a one-timer off the header from Francombe and sent the shot just far enough outside of the reach of the UIW goalkeeper to give the Lions the 1-0 lead heading into the locker room.

In the second half, Lindenwood exploded for 14 shots while recording six on goal. In the 73rd minute, Luca Bartoni tried to send a cross pass to Gavin Csiszar, who was streaking down the middle of the field. The initial pass was denied by the Cardinal defender, however the ball bounced right back to Bartoni who wouldn't be denied a second time, hitting Alander Soares trailing Csiszar on the play. Soares shot the ball across his body immediately after receiving the pass from Bartoni and beat the UIW goalkeeper to the top of the net to extend the Lindenwood lead to 2-0.

The score would hold for the remainder of the game as the Lions picked up their 11th win of the season, which ties their win total from a season ago. After being out shot 7-4 in the first half, the Lindenwood defense locked the Cardinals down in the second half, allowing just 4 shots by the UIW offense. Gavin Roberts had another solid performance in goal, recording four saves and picking up his fourth shutout of the year as the back line for Lindenwood allowed 11 shots total for the game. 

"I thought our guys did a really good job staying on the ball and creating chances." said Head Coach Kris Bertsch."It was a really nice response in the second half. We were able to get a lot of shots on goal and create a lot of chances to score a goal in each half."

The Lions will wrap up their two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon as they will host Houston Christian. First kick is set for 1 p.m. and after the game there will be a Senior Day Ceremony to honor the 2025 Lindenwood Men's Soccer Seniors.