Chicago, Ill. - Maciek Matusiak scored a pair of goals, Mateo Sanchez scored the opening goal, and the Illinois Tech men's soccer team defeated Marian University 3-1 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) matchup Saturday afternoon at Stuart Field. With the win, the Scarlet Hawks evened their conference record at 1-1-0 (2-2-3 overall). Marian fell to 0-2-0 in NACC play (2-3-0 overall).

How It Happened

• In the 18th minute, the Scarlet Hawks were awarded a corner kick. From the right corner, Adam Lazarowicz kick curled inwards towards goal. Marian's Matt Williamson headed the ball forward to attempt to clear, but Sanchez intercepted the ball on one hop and kicked a one-hopper past Marian goalkeeper Aden Jerome into the left side of the net for a 1-0 Hawks lead.
• In the 22nd minute, after the Scarlet Hawks thwarted a scoring chance from Marian, a through ball from Anthony Paoitti sent Logan Garcia down the left side inside inside the Marian zone. Garcia eluded two defenders by cutting to the inside, and sent a pass to his left between two defenders to an oncoming Matusiak, who tapped the ball into the right corner for an easy goal and a 2-0 Illinois Tech advantage.
• In the 68th minute, Marian's Logan Holevas was double-teamed inside his own zone by Jake Skiba on his left and Matusiak on his right. Skiba was able to steal the ball from Holevas, and chipped a shot pass forward that Matusiak was able to corral. With Sabres goalkeeper Jerome coming forward well out of his net, Matusiak was able to poke it past the right of Jerome into the right side of the net for his second goal of the match, and a 3-0 Hawks lead.
• Marian was finally able to get on the board in the 76th minute. After a Marian throw-in from the left side inside Hawks territory, the ball was sent back to Logan Holevas at the edge of the center circle. Holevas lofted a kick towards the left of goal that Marian's Isak Olsson was able to head it to teammate Ryan Azzaline to his right. Azzaline kicked the ball in flight to the right corner of the net to cut their deficit to two goals, 3-1.

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

• Matusiak with a pair of goals on two shots on goals in 54 minutes played. Matusiak has scored four goals over his last four games.
• Sanchez with a goal on two shots in 37 minutes played.
• Logan Garcia with an assist on Matusiak's first goal and one shot in 61 minutes played.
• Jake Skiba, in 12 minutes played, with the assist on Matusiak's second goal after the steal inside Marian's zone.
• Goalkeeper Adam Falcigno with no goals allowed and a pair of saves in 45 minutes of first-half play.
• Zach Skiba and Devin Zakeri each with 90-minutes played in the match.

Sabres Watch

• Azzaline with a goal on four shots, two on goal, in 86 minutes played.
• Olsson with an assist and 90-minutes played on the back line for Marian.
• Logan Holevas with an assist in 85 minutes played.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks have a quick turn-around, as the host Alma Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm at Stuart Field in a non-conference matchup.