SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Dakota Wesleyan Men's Soccer faced the Morningside Mustangs for the second time in a week in the first round of the GPAC Playoffs, this time down at Elwood Olsen Stadium.
The Tigers started the contest with the offensive momentum, recording the first shot on the goal and followed it up with the match's opening score, both of which were contributed by AJ Bowman. Bowman scored his fourth goal of the season in the 17th minute to give the Tigers a quick 1-0 lead, and Dakota Wesleyan followed it up with a second point just two minutes later on a Morningside own-goal to go up 2-0, which stuck for the rest of the first half. The Mustangs had a potent counterattack, but could not get past Carter Hanson initially, who recorded four total saves throughout the contest. The backline of Neil Ennis and Colin Burke helped snuff out potential scoring opportunities as the half closed with DWU holding a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.
The Morningside offense made adjustments at halftime and found many more opportunities on the Dakota Wesleyan half of the pitch, going from five shots in the first half to 11 in the second. DWU's production would slow down between halves from seven in the first 45 minutes of play to three in the back portion of the contest. The Mustangs were able to connect on a goal in the 54th minute to bring the score to 2-1, but the Tigers were still able to prevent further scoring opportunities for the majority of the second half. Evan Bolster and Ryan Ford would get chances at the net that were both saved by the Mustang goalkeeper, but the pressure kept the ball in an advantageous position for the Tigers a handful of times. Luis Waeschle, Lukas Adamhuber, and Maximilian Nolle all recorded shot attempts in the contest as well, but the Tigers could not get a third point to put the game away. In the final 30 seconds of the second half, Morningside finally found a seam and punched one into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2, and, because of postseason rules, sent the contest to overtime.
The 10-minute overtime period became a scramble to put together scoring opportunities, but both defenses limited the opposing offense for the majority of the period. In the end, Morningside found the game-winning goal in the 97th minute to win the contest over DWU, 3-2. The Tigers end the season with a 7-11-1 overall record, and went 5-4-1 in GPAC play to secure the fifth seed in the GPAC Tournament.
DWU Men's Soccer will be back in action for the 2026 season. Stay up-to-date with all postseason and ensuing preseason news here.