photo by Christopher Squier
Junior midfielder Matt Buckley tussles for the ball during a game against Northwestern Ohio on Sept 13. The Pioneers won in overtime 2-­1.

                                                                                                         photo by Christopher Squier
Members of the men’s soccer team celebrate after scoring one of two goals against Nortwestern Ohio.

                                                                                               photo by Christine Cestra
Members of the men’s soccer team celebrate after scoring one of two goals 
against Northwestern Ohio.

The Point Park men’s soccer team has brought the full force of the team during this last week, winning both games to start a winning streak.

The Pioneers hit the road last Tuesday to play against Waynesburg University, winning the game for a non-conference victory. 

Returning players did most of the scoring for the Pioneers, including Junior midfielder Max Flick scoring two goals. Senior forward Lucas Silva, who was named the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association (KIAC) men’s soccer offensive player of the week, had a goal and two assists, and Senior Jonty Loukes, had a goal and an assist.

Even though Waynesburg got an early start against the Pioneers only a minute into the game, that didn’t stop Flick from scoring two goals five minutes apart to set the lead for the rest of the game for the Pioneers.

They ended the game with the winning score of 5-2 over Waynesburg.

The Pioneers returned home last Saturday to then play Northwestern Ohio.

After a tough 97 minute game, including overtime, the Pioneers broke through and got the win.

Silva started and ended the game, with his first goal within the first four minutes of the game and his winning goal in overtime. 

“Athletes live for these moments,” said Silva. “Being able to score the golden goal in overtime and help my team get the win, it doesn’t get better than this. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever experienced.”

The goal was able to happen with a pass from Paul Carr to the left post where Silva was able to make the win.

“The assist felt great, as soon as I flicked the ball on to Lucas I was confident he was going to score,” said Carr.  “It was just a ‘what if’ game to see the ball hit the back of the net. It was a great feeling to win the game, all the lads were buzzing afterwards and I’m hoping it can give us a big lift for the rest of the season.

The win was well deserved for the Pioneers, and for team captain Loukes, it showed the teams true character.

“I think that the result made me really believe in what this team is capable of,” said Loukes. “It’s important to keep this winning streak going because our goal at the start of the season was to finish the season in the top 25 and in order to do that, we need to win.”

Goal Keeper Zak Borzovoy also played his part in the game with a total of 13 saves in the 97 minutes.

The Pioneers are now 3-1, 0-0 in the KIAC so far this season. 

Saturday’s game was the start of a four game stretch for the Pioneers. This will continue with an away game at West Virginia Tech on Tuesday, a home game on Thursday against Geneva at 9 p.m. and a showdown against National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) No. 7 Rio Grande at 12 p.m..

Loukes believes the team has enough in them to not get worn down before Saturday’s big game.

“We have enough strength in the squad that if we rest a couple players this week, we have the quality to win all three games.”