Griffins take down Finlandia for third straight win

St. Louis, Mo. - Twenty-six seconds is all it took for Fontbonne men's soccer to net their game-winning goal against Finlandia University today. Finlandia tried to clear out Fontbonne's first possession up the sideline when Matt Rapisardo took control of the ball on the far side of the field. The freshman played the ball to senior Nathan Spiess in the midfield who sent the ball up the field to sophomore Alex Phillips. Phillips left-footed a grounder around Finlandia's sliding goalkeeper for his first goal of the game.

Just ten and a half minutes later, Spiess stole the ball away from Finlandia in the midfield and sent another pass up to Phillips. Phillips poked the ball to the left of the sliding Lion goalkeeper at the top of the box, continuing towards the left side and then finished with his second goal of the contest on a chipper to an open net to give Fontbonne the 2-0 edge.

Fontbonne senior Alex Platipodis was called for a foul in the box at the 31:41 mark. Griffin goalkeeper Jordan Alberici made the penalty kick save, ensuring the 2-0 halftime lead. Fontbonne closed in in the 52nd minute when Brendan Kopff's shot was blocked to Alex Lamoreau in the center of the goal. Lamoreau's shot barely knicked the crossbar when Matt Key came in to secure the third goal of the game and his second of the season.

In all, Fontbonne had 28 shots on the day while Finlandia recorded 11. Alberici picked up his fifth win of the year after saving seven shots today. Fontbonne also held a major 13-3 corner kick advantage.

The Griffins are scheduled to play at Washington University this Wednesday, October 21st. Start time for the rivalry game is 7 p.m.