Chris Purdue header Aug. 30, 2008

Late goals lift Augsburg past Dutch

PELLA—Despite an 18-13 shot advantage, the Central College men’s soccer team gave up two late goals and fell to Augsburg College (Minn.) 2-1 Saturday.

Both of Augsburg’s scores came from the foot of D.J. Wendell. His first came at 75:15, and his second came just 6 minutes later with only 8:38 left. Central’s lone score came on an own goal at 36:22.

Midfielder Cody Jandik (sophomore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cedar Valley Christian HS), led the attack for Central (1-1), recording five shots. However, Augsburg got some solid goalkeeping down the stretch by Donnie McCarthy, who tallied eight saves, including a key stop on a Dutch header shortly after the Auggies (1-0-1) took the lead. Another late Central shot hit the post.

Dutch coach Garry Laidlaw said he made too many substitutions.

“We were losing our shape during the game,” Laidlaw said. “We tried to rest guys with back-to-back games and keep ourselves fresh, but the changes hurt us, and that’s on me.”

Two games into the new season, Laidlaw said that he has been able to learn a lot about his young team.

“We’ve got some great senior leadership,” said Laidlaw. “We’ve learned that we’re a team of heart and commitment, but we’re naïve in terms of understanding some game situations, and only experience is going to help that.”

After splitting games on opening weekend, Central makes a long trek to meet a pair of Division III opponents in the Pacific Northwest. The Dutch have a first-ever meeting with Puget Sound (Wash.), in Seattle, Wash. Friday at 6 p.m. (Iowa time). Puget Sound is 0-1. Central comes back Saturday at 1 p.m. in nearby Tacoma, Wash. to take on Pacific Lutheran (Wash.).