The Spartans continue their perfect start to the season as they beat Richard M. Daley College 3-0 on August 31 at the Spartan Soccer Field. 

The team got off to a good start as they tried to prevent the opponent from scoring the first goal of the game. In the 13th min, forward Christian Escobedo made an amazing shot but unfortunately, the ball missed the goal net. 

In the 22nd min, forward Adrian Diaz made an amazing free kick attempt but the ball didn’t travel enough to put it in the back of the net. The Spartans ended the 1st half in a 0-0 draw. 

In the beginning of the second half, the team started to create momentum. Forward Adrian Diaz scored an amazing curl shot in the 54th minute. After the first goal, the team leads 1-0. 

To keep the momentum going, forward Adrian Diaz made a wonderful pass to defender Tyler Buthman in the 56th minute to take a 2-0 lead. Midfielder Yahir Carillo scored a penalty in the 76th minute to end the game on a positive note and get the three points that the team needed. 

During the postgame, coach Dimitri Tsoukalas gave his thoughts on the game.

“The big thing is we want to make sure we always have numerical superiority,” he said. “We have overloads so we have more players than they do around the ball. It allows us to keep the ball moving and we can move it faster. That’s really kind of the main thing we do when we look to possess the ball.”

According to him, he addressed the team improvements which is “The one thing that I always stress which is a personal philosophy of mine is you can’t lose a game if you don’t concede a goal. We take pride in our defense shape but there are some holes that we need to kind clean up a little bit.”

Also, coach Tsoukalas gave his thoughts if the team will end the season with  a good record. According to him, he said “That’s the plan. The big thing is we do better than the team did last year but we have to keep it going.”

Defender Tyler Buthman gave his thoughts on the game. “Today was really good. I think we perform well. I was able to get a goal today so I think my performance is pretty good.”

According to him, he explained his strategy of creating chances which is “Create space in the midfield. You have your teammates passing you around the ball and then just keep moving up the ball and find chances”. 

Also, he describes his strategy of hitting the goal which is“Just work as a team and hopefully, you just get a goal in the back of the net.”

The team is 3-0-1 in the season and their next game is against Governors State.