BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — The Chicago State men's soccer team (2-7-1, 0-3 WAC) faced off against the Grand Canyon University Antelopes Sundayand suffered a loss at 3-1.
"We, as a team, lost our composure, including myself," head coach Trevor Banks said. "In a match like that, which was tight tight, we can't go down a man for something avoidable and expect to win. Even with a man down, we had multiple chances, but it's tough to compete with a team being down multiple men. We have a long week ahead of us and a trip to Utah and Vegas. We will move on and prepare for that."
For the start of the match, the Cougars came out very-fast paced offensively and managed to produce several runs into the box.
This led to a run into the box by Toluwalase Olasdeinbo, who got taken down illegally by GCU's goalkeeper which resulted in a penalty kick opportunity.
Captain Calwayne Allen then stepped up to take the kick and fired it into the bottom right corner, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead at the 11th minute mark.
However, the Antelopes persistently attacked throughout the rest of the game which resulted in a goal for them at the 23rd minute mark with a beautiful cross by Cameron Weller which was then finished by Shaun-Chris Joash.
The rest of the half consisted of the Antelopes attacking consistently which forced the Cougars to defend.
Due to Chicago State's frequent defensive plays and with an onslaught of five saves by goalkeeper Marco Seyfert at the half, the game remained tied, 1-1.
In the second half, tensions rose as both teams looked to break this deadlock. A red card was shown to Jaiye Sheppard at just the 52nd minute mark that left the Cougar's with ten men on the field to finish out the half.
Chicago State stood strong throughout most of the half yet ultimately the Antelopes broke through and Joash scored his second goal of the game at the 77th minute.
The Antelopes once again took advantage of fatigue plaguing the Cougars with only ten men and scored the last goal of the match with a beautifully placed shot by Rasmussen.
The Cougars ended up with three players being shown red cards in a very tension-filled ending.
The game ended with a 3-1 Grand Canyon win.
Chicago State next takes on Dixie State in St. George, Utah at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 8.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet.
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