Warriors Dominate Doane in GPAC Matchup

FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University was back on the pitch for another Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) home game at Heedum Field against Doane University on Wednesday night. The Warriors scored with ease as they blew past the Tigers, earning a 7-1 victory.

"I'm very proud of the team tonight," said head coach Josh Nakayama. "It feels great to get a decisive victory."

The Warriors got the scoring started in the 15th minute when Nathan Powis sent a long ball across the field and found the feet of Lucas Forman who dribbled past the lone defender and lobbed the ball over the keeper to earn a 1-0 lead.

Midland doubled their lead less than three minutes later as Hugo Garcia-Rosado Duran dribbled past two defenders before being fouled on the edge of the box. Garcia stopped over the ball and curled it with his left foot over a five-man wall and into the top right corner, giving the keeper no chance and putting the Warriors up 2-0.

The Warriors kept the pressure up and broke through for a third goal in the first half when Adnan Boulaghmal played in a through ball that was stopped by the Doane defense. The deflection found Brayden Wright who took a touch and fired a long-range shot from the edge of the box that found the bottom left corner to put the Warriors on top 3-0.

Midland created most of the chances in the first half as they went into the locker room with a comfortable lead. The Warriors doubled the Tigers shot total in the first half 10-5 with Doane having to rely on set pieces to create its chances. Four of the Tiger's five first-half shots came via a corner, free kick, or throw-in.

Midland would take a page out of Doane's book in the second half as they sent a free kick 30 yards into the box that found the head of Thomas Gibson. His shot was saved but Joel Auther Bazayemekele was able to get the rebound and, after a scramble in the box, he found himself alone on the goal line with a tap-in goal to put the Warriors up 4-0 in the 59th minute.

The scoring kept coming for the home team. A long ball from Brandon Toledo bounced over the Tigers' defense before Boulaghmal ran onto the ball. He went one-on-one with the keeper and kept his composure to dink the ball over the goalie as he slid down to try and save the shot. The goal extended the lead to five in the 67th minute.

The Tigers fought back and got on the board in the 70th minute as Hugo Santos was able to get the ball in the box and work his way towards the end line before shooting it from a difficult angle. The shot went towards the far post and past the Midland keeper into the side netting to make the score 5-1.

Midland began to pile on in the 85th minute when a Doane defender misplaced a pass meant for his goalkeeper. The ball instead found Colin Macke who dribbled around the keeper and tapped it into the goal. Later on, in the 87th minute, the nail was driven into the coffin as Macke passed it to Boulaghmal in the box who worked his way around his defender before slotting the ball past the keeper to cap off the night with a 7-1 win for the Warriors.

Midland dominated the game in terms of chances and possession. The Warriors outshot the Tigers 27-10, with 15 of those 27 shots being on target. The Warriors' goals came from six different players with Adnan Boulaghmal bagging himself a brace.

Defensively, Hugo Sjoeberg didn't have much action tonight as only two of Doane's 10 shots found the target, as Sjoeberg earned himself a single save in 90 minutes of action.

"We are starting to play with objective and to our strengths," Coach Nakayama added. "This is what we needed in the conference."

Midland (3-4-3, 1-1-1 GPAC) will be back in action this Saturday at home for another conference game. The Warriors will host Morningside (4-5-0, 2-1-0 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. at Heedum Field in Fremont.