Friday, October 03, 2003

Owen Hoyt (Spring Grove, Ill./Prairie Ridge H.S.) scored Valparaiso's first goal in nearly 600 minutes, but it was not enough as the Crusaders dropped their Mid-Continent Conference opener to UMKC 3-1 on Friday afternoon at Eastgate Field.

Hoyt took a cross from Mark Korba (Portage, Ind./Portage H.S.) in front of the net and beat Kangaroo goalkeeper Todd Dohlman at the 32:28 mark to tie the match at one. The goal was Valpo's first in 584:57, since the first half of their match with Butler on September 7.

UMKC took an early lead on Dan Hilson's goal from 15 yards out at the 12:50 mark after picking up a deflection from Drew Perkins. Following Hoyt's tally, Ryan Kaufman put the Kangaroos back on top before intermission from in front deflecting the ball off of the crossbar into the back of the net at 39:30.

John Clark added an insurance goal at the 59:55 mark after taking a Hilson cross from the right and scoring from the left side of the penalty area.

Valpo (0-7-2, 0-1 Mid-Con) outshot UMKC 16-8 for the match, but the Kangaroos held an 8-5 advantage on goal. Dohlman made four saves for UMKC (3-5-1, 1-0) while Jeff Oleck (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral H.S.) made four stops for the Brown and Gold.

Valparaiso will return to action on Sunday afternoon when the Crusaders host Centenary in Mid-Continent Conference action. Kickoff time is 1 p.m.