McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's soccer team secured a 4-1 victory over Blackburn College on Wednesday, September 10, at the Blackburn Soccer Fields in Carlinville, Illinois. With this win, the Titans improved their season record to 3-0-1 while the Beavers dropped to 3-2-0.

Illinois Wesleyan opened the scoring in the 19th minute when junior Ryder Coleman found the net after receiving a pass from sophomore Ben Lyons. This marked Coleman's second goal of the season.

Seventeen minutes later, freshman Daniel Smazil scored his first of two goals for the match with an assist from senior Logan Tierney. After halftime, junior Matthew Perchik extended the Titans' lead to 3-0 with help from sophomore Gavin Young.

Blackburn responded in the 70th minute as Antonio Baca scored his first goal of the year, narrowing Illinois Wesleyan's lead to 3-1. However, just one minute later, Smazil added his second goal of the night following an assist from fellow freshman Will Smucker.

Smazil, Perchik, and Lyons now share the team lead in goals after their performances against Blackburn. The Titans outshot Blackburn by a margin of 14-9 and had an advantage of 11-3 in shots on target. The match also saw five yellow cards issued to Blackburn and two to Illinois Wesleyan.

Illinois Wesleyan is scheduled to play its first home game of the season against Kalamazoo College at Neis Field on Saturday, September 13. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.