Lakeland College

Hardy's second hat trick lifts Muskies past Cougars

Athletics - posted on 10/1/2011

Senior Jeremy Hardy recorded his second hat trick of the season to lift the Lakeland College men's soccer team to a convincing 6-2 victory over Concordia University Chicago Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies (4-2-3, 2-0-2 NAC) scored first at the 13:18 mark when senior midfielder Adam Benson (Anoka, Minn.) converted on a penalty kick. Hardy (Cooks, Mich.) scored his first goal in the 16th minute to give Lakeland a 2-0 lead.

The Cougars answered in the 37th minute to cut Lakeland's lead down to one.

Just after the second half began, senior Ben Koepsell (Cedar Grove) put Lakeland on the board again after capitalizing on the Cougars' goalkeeper's deflection on a Lakeland penalty kick. Concordia Chicago wouldn't go away quietly as they knocked in another goal in the 53rd minute.

Hardy scored his second and third goals, both assisted by Koepsell at the 56: 30 and 59:36 marks to give Lakeland a 5-2 edge. Senior Craig Dekarske (Sheboygan) added his second goal of the season in the 72nd minute as Lakeland took a convincing Northern Athletics Conference win.

"We knocked the ball around nicely today," said head coach Tony Pierce. "We knew Concordia Chicago would be competitive today and they never gave up. It took us a while to settle in and get a handle on the game, but once we did we created a lot of opportunities."

See what Hardy and Koepsell had to say about each other's performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBzo6K7QVko

The Muskies return to action tomorrow as they travel to Naperville, Ill., to take on North Central College in non-conference action. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.

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