Western Courier

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Martyn Davis Junior forward Nebojsa Opacic pushes the ball past a UW-Milwaukee defender Saturday. Western did not allow a goal in either of its two games.

One goal was enough for the Western Illinois men's soccer team to defeat Truman State University, 1-0, Saturday afternoon at Vince Grady Field. The victory came after a tied contest (0-0) against UW-Milwaukee in the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday.

Freshman midfielder/forward Jon Sandoval scored his second goal of his career, which came off a rebound from freshman teammate John Greenwall's free kick with 32:82 remaining in the first half. Greenwall's kick ricocheted off the goal post, landing the ball next to Sandoval for the uncontested score. That was all the offense Sandoval and the Leathernecks (1-0-1) needed, as the team's defense stayed relentless in denying Truman State's attack, and Western obtained its first victory of the spring.

"I was basically at the right place at the right time," Sandoval said. "Greenwall's kick went right off the post and I just tapped it in. I almost started celebrating before the ball actually went inside the net."

Assistant head coach Randy Moate said he was pleased with the effort and the results his team gave in the two games. Moate expressed this spring season is the right time for his team to improve on some of the flaws the team suffered from during the regular season.

"We were very competitive out there, which was what we needed to be in order to play well," Moate said. "We will be looking to work with our forwards in making better runs in improving our scoring from last season. That's something that we must address this spring."

Sophomore midfielder/forward Martin Browne was out of both games Saturday with a hamstring injury. Browne was hobbled with injuries for a large part of last year's fall season. The coaching staff is taking serious precautions in being sure he is 100 percent before he steps back on the field.

"Right now, we're just trying to get Martin healthy," Moate said. "He's training with our team and working on fitness, and we're looking to have him back in our line up by next year. For now we're trying to work with him and get him back into good form."

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