From University of Chicago Athletics
A hat trick by sophomore forward Brenton Desai highlighted a wild second half as the University of Chicago men's soccer team beat Knox College 6-2 on Tuesday.
The Maroons ran their record to 3-0-0 on the season and dealt the Prairie Fire (1-1-0) their first loss.
Knox came out of the gate playing with pace and aggressiveness on challenges. The foul count quickly added up, with 15 on the Prairie Fire and eight on the Maroons in the first 45 minutes. UChicago gained more and more control of the game as the half progressed, creating shots from 23 to 28 yards out from goal.
At the end of the 36th minute, UChicago worked its way into the goalie box and a deft one-touch pass from freshman defender Stacey Reimann found Desai in front. The sophomore quickly smacked a left-footed shot to the far post from within 10 yards to put his team up 1-0.
The Maroons went into halftime with the lead, but it was erased in the opening moments of the second half. Knox boomed the opening kick deep past the UChicago defenders, Nathaniel Logie caught up to it and scored only 11 seconds into the half. The Maroons responded immediately one minute later. Sophomore midfielder Chris Mathis fed the ball to Desai in the deep right corner of the box, and Desai's blast cut the tight angle hard and flew into the inside of the far netting.
The 2-1 lead lasted just over one minute. The Prairie Fire once again got behind the back line defense and a roller in close eluded the keeper to tie the score once more at 47:17.
Desai was not through. The forward made it three goals at 56:21 after receiving a header in front from senior midfielder Nic Lopez. Immediately after the score, a Knox player was ejected thanks to consecutive cards that were given by the referee. It marked the second-straight game that the Maroons played with a man advantage.
Three minutes passed before the home team scored again. A foul at the top right corner of the box gave UChicago a free kick. Senior midfielder Michael Choquette delivered the ball right to the head of sophomore defender DJ Weis, who snagged his second career goal.
Lopez got in on the scoring himself in the 64th minute on a give-and-go with senior forward Kyle Kurfirst. The Maroons wrapped up their offensive spree at 85:05 when senior forward Matt Vecchitto's bouncing free kick struck pay dirt.
The hosts ended with a 19-9 shot advantage and a 4-2 margin in corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Hill Bonin (2-0-0) made two saves with two goals allowed to get the victory. Five yellow cards and one red card were given out in the match.