Winston's hat trick guides Falcons to first NACC win

MEQUON, Wis. – Freshman Gavin Winston came into Wednesday's match in search of his first career collegiate point. Winston no longer has to worry about that as he recorded a hat trick to guide the Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Soccer team to a 4-0 win over Lakeland College Wednesday at Fitting Field.

It took the Falcons a little over 30 minutes to get on the scoreboard as the visiting Muskies held their ground in the opening half. Winston (Park Forest, Ill.), who entered the match at the 29:05 mark, needed just one minute to get assimilated to game action as he scored at the 30:05 mark, giving CUW a 1-0 advantage. Freshman Justin Clayton (Crete, Ill.) was credited with an assist on the play.

The 1-0 advantage would hold until the 65:02 mark when freshman Nicolas Bocanegra (Grafton, Wis.) tallied a highlight reel goal, scoring off a cross pass from senior Jacob Pope (Muskego, Wis.) Pope launched the pass in front of the net and Boconegra executed the header to perfection, putting the Falcons on top 2-0.

Winston then put the finishing touches on the victory, scoring twice over the next ten minutes of play. His second goal was a header off a corner kick from freshman Jordan Moehn (Fond du Lac, Wis.), while his hat trick was completed on a penalty kick at the 73:28 mark.

CUW dominated the shots in the match, 31-9, including a 16-3 advantage in the second half. The Falcons put 17 of those 31 shots on goal, while Lakeland finished with just one shot on goal. Lakeland keeper Austin Ganzke made plenty of great plays, finishing with 13 saves, while junior Eric Vogel (Itasca, Ill.) picked up his third win of the season, recording one save. Sophomore Alec Brew (Appleton, Wis.) played the final 15:37 for the Falcons.

Sophomore Keegan Van Dusseldorp (Burlington, Wis.) posted a match-high seven shots for the Falcons, while Winston finished with six, including five on net. Pope added four shots, while also playing excellent defense. The Falcons back four kept one of the NACC's leading scorers, Farouk Dadzie, in check all afternoon. Dadzie finished with a team-best three shots for the Muskies.

CUW (3-4-1, 1-1-0 NACC) will return to Fitting Field Saturday when they host Elmhurst College in non-conference play. The Falcons and Bluejays will begin play at 1 p.m. with live audio and stats being available from CUWFalcons.com.