Final Stats

CHICAGO - A first-half goal from sophomore Elliot Collier and two tallies from freshman Fabian Lifka in the second half helped propel the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team to a 3-0 win over Central Arkansas this evening at Loyola Soccer Park. With the win, Loyola's fourth in its last five games, the Ramblers move to 7-3-3 overall (2-1-1 MVC), while the Bears fall to 1-11-1 (0-3-0 MVC).

"I was very proud of the intensity and energy that the guys brought in the first 15 minutes tonight," Loyola head men's soccer coach Neil Jones commented. "We dropped off a bit towards the latter part of the first half and credit goes to Central Arkansas for that. Obviously, there was a moment of talent and individual skill from Elliot (Collier) to put us up, 1-0, heading into halftime. In the second half, we wanted more out of the guys and they delivered. Central Arkansas came out and tried to pressure us and our guys were able to figure it out and made some adjustments, which is what we always ask of them."

Loyola came out and dominated the proceedings from the opening whistle on a cool night in Rogers Park. Junior Kevin Engesser notched his first of four attempts when his header forced a save out of Harrison Veith, the Central Arkansas goalkeeper, in the 11th minute. There wasn't much Veith could do just over six minutes later when Collier worked his way through a handful of Bears defenders before calmly slotting a shot into the back of the net from 12 yards out to put Loyola on top, 1-0.

The Maroon & Gold continued to keep Central Arkansas pinned back in its own third but struggled to add on a second goal. Collier's bid for a brace was parried away by Veith in the 35th minute, resulting in a Rambler corner kick. Senior Jacob Thoreson would have made it 2-0 seconds later when he connected with sophomore Kyle Thomson's delivery, only for Veith to make a sprawling save to keep the visitor's deficit at one. Senior goalkeeper Tim Dobrowolski collected his first and only save of the opening stanza in the dying seconds of play to send Loyola to the locker room with a one-goal advantage.

Niklas Sandquist came dangerously close to knotting the game up just over a minute into the second half, finding space in the box, only to fire wide of the far post. Dobrowolski recorded saves in the 52nd and 57th minutes, respectively, to keep the Bears off the scoreboard. Lifka added some much-needed insurance just past the hour mark when he tucked his close-range attempt in at the far post to double the Loyola advantage, 2-0, in the 62nd minute.

Even with a two-goal edge, Loyola continued to amp up the pressure in search of a third goal. Its persistence was rewarded in the 70th minute when Lifka fired home his second of the night, unleashing a blast that deflected off the crossbar and over the line to make it a 3-0 Rambler lead. Loyola's defense, which extended its streak of holding opponents scoreless to 471 minutes on the night, allowed the Bears only one more attempt on target, which was easily collected by Dobrowolski, as the Ramblers extended their home unbeaten run to 17 games.

Loyola hits the road on Wednesday night when it travels to DeKalb, Ill. to take on in-state rival Northern Illinois in its non-conference road finale. Kickoff from the NIU Soccer Complex is set for 7 p.m.