Box Score (in pdf)

After 110 minutes of play of the first round of the Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship Thursday night, the score was tied at 1-1 between #9 Detroit (4-12-3) and #4 Green Bay (6-7-5) at Santaga Stadium in Wisconsin. With the game being decided on penalty kicks, the Titans prevailed, 4-1, to advance to the second round of the conference championship.

"We had a good feeling going into this game," said coach Morris Lupenec. "We played extremely hard tonight and never gave up because we battled, which proved that we deserved to advance to the next round of the championship."

UDM senior Renato Susnja (Dearborn, MI/Edsel Ford) took the first penalty kick and the ball slid into the right corner of the net to give Detroit a 1-0 advantage. Junior goalkeeper Bryan Kloss (Fraser, MI/Bishop Foley Catholic) next faced Green Bay sophomore David Prochazka and was able to punch it away to keep it at 1-0.

"This was a heck of an effort by our team and I could not be more proud of the guys," added Susnja. "It was all about heart today and we can celebrate this for now, but we have to move on and focus on Loyola."

Sophomore Ken Simon (Brighton, MI/Brighton) was up next for the Titans and his attempt curved into the bottom left corner to put it at 2-0. Phoenix junior David Znaty followed Simon and the ball went past Kloss for Green Bay's lone successful penalty kick of the evening.

Junior Nick Dreshaj (Clinton Twp., MI/Chippewa Valley) was third in line for Detroit and fired a shot into the right post, which went past Green Bay senior netminder Adam Stikl. Junior Francois Basty was next for Green Bay and saw his shot hit the left post to keep Detroit ahead, 3-1.

UDM senior Simon Zahra (New South Wales, Sydney, Australia/Evans) clinched it for the Titans hit a laser of a shot into the right corner of the net to send the Titans into the second round of the championship.

"I was delighted to be able to score the penalty kick which sent us into the second round of the championship," commented Zahra. "But, overall I was extremely happy with the determination and effort of the boys."

In the 28th minute, Dreshaj slotted it to the goal line and a quick cross, which led Susnja to shoot it from about six yards out into the top right corner of the net to give Detroit a 1-0 advantage.

At the 31:25 mark, Basty took a quick shot, which was deflected by sophomore JC Banks and shot from about five yards out to knot the game at one.

The Phoenix had a 16-10 advantage in shots, while corner kicks were even at six a piece. Kloss ended the night with five saves and allowed one goal, while Stikl tallied four saves for Green Bay.

The Titans will next face #5 Loyola in Chicago, IL, on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m..