MACOMB, Ill. - Freshman Tyler Chavez scored his first collegiate goal as the Western Illinois men's soccer team tied Fort Wayne 1-1 in a Summit League match on Saturday afternoon.
The Leathernecks took 15 shots on goal, but Brandon Cloutier's efforts in net for Fort Wayne allowed Western Illinois to score just once.
With the tie, Western Illinois moves to 2-7-3 overall and 0-1-2 in The Summit League, while the Mastodons are now 0-11-1 and 0-2-1 in conference play.
IPFW jumped out to an early lead, when a long pass from Jackson Tooke found Jose Rodriguez in a one-on-one scenario with Leatherneck keeper Yves Dietrich, with Rodriguez finding the corner of the net for his second goal of the season.
Less than eight minutes later, senior Nathan Bruinsma picked up an assist when he put a pass into the box and Chavez beat Cloutier from short range. The assist was Bruinsma's second of the year.
Western Illinois continued to mount offensive pressure, as the team's 26 shots and 15 shots on goal were both by far the most of the season.
Cloutier, though, made a number of diving and jumping saves to keep the game tied.
Drew Edmond had a one-on-one opportunity in the closing minutes of regulation that pulled Cloutier out of the net. Edmond chipped it over his head, but it bounced off the left post and was soon cleared by a defender.
Junior Charlie Bales and sophomore Mario Alvarez each took team-highs of six shots and four shots on goal, while Bruinsma was right behind with four shots, three of them on target.
Dietrich had a strong game in net for the Leathernecks, saving seven of the eight shots on goal he faced.
"I think we're turning the corner by creating the chances, we hadn't created that many chances all season," head coach Dr. Eric Johnson said. "Other than the goal, I thought we played pretty well defensively, too."
The Leathernecks will look to pick up their first league victory on Friday (Oct. 12) when they travel to Eastern Illinois for a 3 p.m. contest.
