Jallow, Morana Ignite Offense in 3-1 Win Over Lourdes

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DETROIT — A combined six points out of Abdoulie Jallow and Mario Morana, combined with 90 minutes of stingy defense, was enough to propel Marygrove men’s soccer to a 3-1 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) victory over the visiting Lourdes Gray Wolves on Saturday (Oct. 10) in Detroit. The Mustangs improved to 6-5-1 overall and 3-1-1 in conference play after earning three points in the win.

The three-point addition to the conference total lifted the Mustangs into a third-place tie with Cornerstone after Saturday’s action at 10 points each. Lourdes drops to 4-5-0 on the season with a 2-3-0 mark in WHAC play.

Sophomore midfielder Andriy Pelekh (Lviv, Ukraine/Salem High School) struck first in the 35th minute off of a strong throw-in from Morana (Sterling Heights, Mich./Macomb CC). Pelekh rose above the rest in the box to head in Morana’s stellar throw, giving the Green and Gold a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

The goal was Pelekh’s second in as many games after the sophomore tapped home one of the Mustangs seven goals against Concordia-Ann Arbor on Wednesday (Oct. 7).

Less than three minutes later, Morana would end up on the goal-scoring end of a connection from Jallow (Bansang, The Gambia/Rust College). Jallow made a run up the right side before slotting a ball over to Morana for a goal that beat the keeper right to give the Mustangs a decisive 2-0 lead in the first half.

The 38th-minute goal ended the first-half scoring as the Mustangs took a two-goal lead into the halftime break while owning an 8-4 advantage in the shots department.

The Gray Wolves answered early in the second half, scoring a goal a 61 seconds in the latter stanza to cut the Mustangs lead in half, 2-1.

Never wavering, the Mustangs cut down any chance at a Gray Wolves’ comeback after senior midfielder Haider Alzayadi (Simawa, Iraq/Wayne State) played a great through ball to Jallow who did the rest, beating the keeper to give the home team a commanding 3-1 lead in the 51st minute.

Alzayadi was credited with an assist for the second consecutive match as the senior helped ice the match in the Mustangs favor.

Strong defense out of many Mustangs including sophomore Ma Sambou Jatta (Brufut, The Gambia/Schoolcraft College) helped keep the Gray Wolves at bay the entire afternoon as the back line only allowed 10 shots, five on goal, throughout the 90-minute conference contest.

The Mustangs countered with a total of 18 shots, 10 on target, while also taking home the edge in corner kicks, 5-3.

Sophomore keeper Ayman Youssef (Dearborn Heights, Mich./Walsh University) earned his first win in net for the Mustangs after turning away four Gray Wolves shots, inclduing one game-saving stuff in the second half to help lift the Green and Gold to victory.

A night match on the road at Indiana Tech is up next for the Mustangs as head coach Matt Johnson and crew head to Fort Wayne, Ind. for a 7 p.m. opening kick on Wednesday (Oct. 14).

MEN’S SOCCER CONTACT: Tim Johnston | [email protected]/* */ | @tjohnston56
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