Lakeland College

Elzinga nets first goal en route to victory

Athletics - posted on 9/21/2011

Senior forward Jeremy Hardy and freshman forward Paul Elzinga each tallied a goal and led the Lakeland College men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over Ripon College in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon in Ripon, Wis.

The Muskies (3-2-1, 1-0) first struck in the 12th minute as Hardy (Cooks, Mich.) netted his fifth goal of the season to put Lakeland on top 1-0. Freshman midfielder Daiya Akiyama (Ichihara, Japan) had the assist as Lakeland took the lead into halftime.

Elzinga (Howards Grove) put the game away at the 72:51 mark and capped his first collegiate goal on an assist from sophomore midfielder Farouk Dadzie (Milwaukee).

"The guys played well today," said head coach Tony Pierce. "Ripon's been having a good year and it was important for us to come away with the victory. We made a lot of adjustments to our line up early on as some guys were injured. Ripon worked hard and battled, but our defense held up. It was a great team effort today."

Although the Muskies had the edge on the scoreboard, the Red Hawks outshot Lakeland 17-11. Junior goalkeeper Alex Piekarski (Menasha) recorded his second shutout of the season and recorded five saves.

Lakeland returns to Northern Athletics Conference action on Sept. 24 as they travel to Benedictine University. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. in Lisle, Ill.

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