Lakeland College

Elzinga scores golden goal to give Lakeland men first win of season

Athletics - posted on 9/2/2012

Paul Elzinga (So.-Howards Grove, Wis.) scored the winning goal 1:18 into overtime and the Lakeland College men's soccer team defeated Ripon College 3-2 Sunday afternoon.

The Muskies got their first win of the season after Elzinga headed in a rebound after Farouk Dadzie (Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) hit a shot off the crossbar. Lakeland improved to 1-1 on the season while also dropping the Red Hawks to 1-1 overall.

Elzinga scored his second goal of the game in overtime to cap a back and forth battle in which both teams came back from deficits. Ripon scored first in the game with a tally by Spencer Reisbick in the 16th minute, but the Muskies tied it before halftime when Dadzie scored with an assist from Elzinga to tie it at the 35:18 mark.

Lakeland took the lead for the first time when a foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick which Elzinga converted to make it 2-1 in the 67th minute. The lead was short-lived, though, as Nick Zupan cleaned up a loose ball after a corner kick to tie it at 2-2 at 68:30 of the match.

The match was as evenly played as the score indicated, with Ripon holding a slight edge in shots (17-16) and shots on goal (6-5). Elzinga and Dadzie generated much of the offense for the Muskies, combining for nine shots.

Alex Piekarski (Sr.-Menasha, Wis.) made three saves in goal for Lakeland, while Red Hawks keeper Daniel Mikesell also made three saves

Lakeland takes a break this week and returns to play Tuesday, Sept. 11 when it travels to face the University of Wisconsin-Platteville at 7 p.m. in Platteville.