FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Indiana Tech men's soccer team defeated the Warner Pacific Knights, 4-0, on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the 2021 NAIA National Championship Opening Round at Warrior Athletic Field.
How did it Happen?
- Antonio Marra would score his sixth goal of the season in the 42nd minute to put the Orange and Black up 1-0. He cleaned up the mess after a beautiful cross by Jonas Kahlman and header attempt by Will Harris.
- Marc Junca had scored just one goal throughout the entire 2021 season, but he came up big in the first game of the NAIA Opening Round, tripling his goal total with a hat-trick, with each goal being scored in the second half. The first goal came in the 50th minute on a header from a Kahlman cross to put the host team up 2-0. The second came in the 66th minute after a corner kick in which Angel De Jorge headed the ball in the perfect spot for Junca to strike and score, giving Tech a commanding 3-0 lead. The third came off of a beautiful corner kick by Malte Dennert, the Knight goalkeeper mis-judged where the ball was placed, leaving Junca with a wide-open net to head the ball home to seal the deal.
- The Warriors only allowed Warner Pacific to attempt two shots the entire game, with themselves shooting 16 times.
Tech (17-1-3) will now turn their attention to the William Penn Statesmen. The Statesmen own a record of 13-7, receiving an at-large big to the NAIA Championships. They earned a come-from-behind win against the Milligan Buffaloes Thursday evening, 3-1, to advance to the final. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Warrior Athletic Field.
