The UIS men's soccer team fell 3-2 to Missouri S&T in a thrilling Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup on Sunday afternoon at Kiwanis Stadium. The Prairie Stars drop to 2-6-2 overall and 1-5-1 in GLVC play, while the Miners improved to 5-3-1 overall and 3-3-0 in conference play.

UIS struck first in the 14th minute when Robin Lemke Bergseth converted a pass nearly the length of the field from Edoardo Pinna, giving the Prairie Stars an early 1-0 lead. The physicality on the field quickly increased. Missouri S&T responded in the 31st minute as Luke Giesing finished a play set up by Brendan Owens—after a throw-in and a header that was initially saved—tying the match at 1-1.

UIS regained the advantage before halftime when Lemke Bergseth scored his second goal of the match in the 43rd minute. After a throw-in, he found himself surrounded by three Miners but escaped and struck a shot into the top left corner above a leaping goalkeeper. Missouri S&T answered immediately, equalizing just two minutes later as Mike Banasik finished a cross from Jake Salazar-Blair with one second remaining before halftime.

Early in the second half, Missouri S&T completed the comeback in the 52nd minute when Salazar-Blair found the back of the net off a corner kick feed from Luiz Bernis, giving the Miners a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

The match was physical throughout, with multiple cautions issued, including to Mahomet Doucoure, Robin Lemke Bergseth, and Josh Conrad.

The Prairie Stars generated seven shots, including six on goal, with Lemke Bergseth leading the way with three shots and two goals. Corne Boshoff added three shots of his own. Pinna made nine saves in goal for UIS, keeping the game close despite the Miners' 19-shot attack, 12 of which were on target.

"They had the momentum and carried it into the second half," said head coach Graham Shaw. "We took the lead twice but couldn't find an answer, unfortunately. We're taking it game by game and need a strong performance next Friday to turn the season around quickly."

Up Next
UIS will be back in action next weekend with a pair of GLVC road matchups at Lincoln on Friday and Missouri-St. Louis on Sunday.