Venvertloh’s goal sparks strong second half as Hawks knock off Pride

QUINCY — Carter Venvertloh and the Quincy University men’s soccer team notched their first goal, first victory and first upset in their final non-conference game.

Venvertloh, the sophomore forward from Quincy High School, broke a scoreless tie when he scored off a Mathias Bringedal assist in the 49th minute, propelling the Hawks to a 2-1 victory over eighth-ranked Purdue Northwest on Wednesday afternoon at Legends Stadium.

The Hawks were shut out in their first two non-conference tilts, but had outshot Wisconsin-Parkside in the season opener and played solid in a loss to Northern Michigan last Sunday. This breakthrough comes as Great Lakes Valley Conference play is set to begin this Sunday with Lewis visiting Legends Stadium.

On Wednesday, a scoreless first half ended with Quincy gaining a boost as Purdue Northwest’s Flavio Nardecchia received a red card in the 44th minute, forcing the Pride to open the second half a man down.

The Hawks capitalized. A little more than three minutes into the half, Bringedal played a through ball from the right corner, which Venvertloh ran onto in the box. A sliding Purdue Northwest defender couldn’t get to the pass and Venvertloh punched it past the keeper.

A red card on Quincy’s Gavin Higgins — he received his second yellow card of the game in the 56th minute — forced the Hawks to play a man down as well, but they responded well to the challenge. In the 59th minute, Paal Vistnes drove home a header off a corner kick from Richard Monge for a 2-0 lead.

The Pride cut the deficit in half as Christian Booth scored in the 84th minute, but the Hawks were able to fend off a barrage of chances in the closing minutes.

Purdue Northwest outshot Quincy 28-10, including attempting 18 shots in the second half. Hawks goalkeeper George Roke made nine saves.