FOND DU LAC, Wis. – True freshman Ian Chacon made a match-high 10 saves to lead the Marian men's soccer team past Lakeland 2-0 Wednesday evening in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference action at Smith Field.  

"Ian played well and kept us in the game," MU head coach Craig Peltonen said following the match. "He played smart and showed good awareness. He's young and with more minutes he'll continue to get better."

At 13:02 in the first half the Sabres' offense broke through. Another true freshman, Eric Rodriguez, found space on the far side of the field and drilled a shot from 20 yards out to give the Sabres a lead it wouldn't surrender.

Marian continued to have scoring chances in the second half, and finally broke through in the final minute. Rodriguez fed Danny Heerhold a great entry pass and scored on a breakaway to clinch the game.

"I thought we played better in the first half," Peltonen said. "We allowed Lakeland to have too many scoring chances in the second half, but our defense was up to the challenge."

Lakeland (2-11-0, 1-4-0 NACC) outshot Marian (10-3-1, 4-2-1 NACC) 18-13.

Winners of three in a row, Marian returns to the pitch Sunday at Northland.

--FightBlueFight--