Men's Soccer Claims 20th GPAC Title With 5-0 Victory Over Raiders
Hastings, NE – For the first time since 2018, the Hastings College men’s soccer team can call themselves Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season champions. The Broncos defeated Northwestern 5-0 on Saturday afternoon on senior day to claim its 20th GPAC regular season championship and 21st conference title in school history.
Hastings, NE – For the first time since 2018, the Hastings College men's soccer team can call themselves Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season champions. The Broncos defeated Northwestern 5-0 on Saturday afternoon on senior day to claim its 20th GPAC regular season championship and 21st conference title in school history.
In the first few minutes, the Raiders controlled the ball but it was Hastings that struck first when Paul Obrusnik sent a ball deep into the six where David Panter tracked it down and put his shot between the legs of keeper Ezekiel Foltz for the early 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.
The Broncos had a great opportunity to add to the lead in the 21st minute but shots from Lukas Goetz and Obrusnik would yes, both hit the opposite post and bounce back into play keeping it a 1-0 affair.
Hastings held on to that lead into the 37th minute when Keegan Goracke-Johnson sent a pass forward to Ryan Lewis and as the keeper came out, he made a move to his left and ripped a left footed shot into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
The Broncos would turn up the pressure in the second half by striking again in the 57th minute when Panter pushed a pass deep into the box where Goetz sent a low cross to the opposite side of the six where Obrusnik hammered a shot off the bottom of the cross bar and into the goal to make it 3-0 and the route was on.
A thing of beauty played out in the 67th minute when Tyler Mase colleted the ball 35 yards out and dribbled towards goal. He worked a quick one two to Ruben Bande then to Obrusnik where Obrusnik chipped a perfect pass right back to Mase as he broke through the defense and easily beat Foltz to the bottom left to make it 4-0.
The Broncos finished off the scoring in the 73rd minute when Jackson Brown sent a low cross into the box where Sandro Rubio hit a solid left footed shot off the bottom of the cross bar and into the goal for the 5-0 lead.
Hastings out shot the preseason conference pick to win the regular season title by out shooting the Raiders 26-to-9 and 13-to-1 in shots on goal.
Hastings is now 11-1-1 (9-0-1) on the year and will be back in action Wednesday Oct. 26 hitting the road to take on Bellevue with kickoff set for 7:30 pm in Bellevue, NE.
