No. 11 Men's Soccer Defeats Malone 5-1

CANTON, OHIO – The No. 11 Northwood University men's soccer team defeated Malone University 5-1 on Friday afternoon (October 9).

The Timberwolves have now won eight straight and are 9-1 on the year, 7-1 in the GLIAC. The Pioneers fall to 3-7 overall, 3-5 in the GLIAC.

Northwood controlled the pace of play for a majority of the match, netting two first half goals to take a 2-0 lead into the half. NU first got on the board James DeCosemo (Stokesley, England) finished a cross from Adam Thomas (High Wycombe, England) at 28:01 in front of the 18-yard box. Just seven minutes later, senior defender Michael Ankoviak (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Northern) scored his third goal of the season on a signature header off a corner kick from Keaton Levock (Clinton Twp., Mich / Chippewa Valley). The Timberwolves registered 14 shots and five corner kicks in the opening period.

Northwood earned a corner kick for the first play of the second half. Levock served in a ball that was shot by Thomas and blocked by a Malone defender. DeCosemo headed the rebounded shot into the back of the net for his tenth goal of the season and second for the match just 1:14 into the second half. Ten minutes later, MU was called for a foul and senior from Jack Smith (Milnthorpe, England) scored on the direct kick for his first goal of the year. Coming off the bench, senior Mayowa Olufeko (London, England / Welling) put the Timberwolves ahead 5-0 on an unassisted goal at 64:54.

For the match, DeCosemo finished with two goals on seven shots. Ankoviak, Smith and Olufeko also finished with a goal. DeCosemo and Olufeko each have ten goals on the year, which ranks them tied for third in the GLIAC. Senior keeper Johannes Sterobo (Odense, Denmark / Tornbjerg) recorded three saves in the match and is now 9-1 on the year with the win. Sterobo leads the GLIAC in save pct. (.850), goals against (6) and goals-against average (0.64). Sophomore Brandon Brundirks (Macomb, Mich. / Eisenhower) also made three saves in nearly 30 minutes of play. The Timberwolves finished with the advantage in shots (28-11) and corner kicks (8-3).

Northwood finishes a five-game road spree at Walsh on Sunday (October 11). Match is to start at 3:30 p.m.