ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- Held goalless for the fourth-straight match, the Bellevue University men's soccer team settled for a 0-0 draw at Northwestern College on Wednesday evening as they wrapped up their eight game in just four weeks to kick off the season.
Records:
Bellevue: 2-4-2
Northwestern: 1-3-2
BU 0, NWC 0
From the out-set, the Bruins dominated the possession with the stat sheet bearing that out as BU registered a 7-1 advantage in shots and collected all four corner kicks in the first half.
Bellevue had a golden opportunity to strike off a corner when Anthony Cox played a corner into the box that was volleyed to Tibor Stankovic but Ezekiel Foltz came off his line to make a big 28th minute save.
Quality scoring chances were otherwise scarce in the opening period and the game advanced to halftime still scoreless.
Early in the second half, Bellevue again threated with Oumar Sissoko receiving a pass from the wing in the 47th minute and redirecting a shot on goal but Foltz again came up with a stop.
Northwestern put their first shot on target in the 53rd minute as Gerard Uamai tested Romeo Paparesta but the Bruin keeper was up to the challenge and kept the game scoreless.
The Bruins peppered the net with three more shots but were unable to find the back of the net as they have now gone four games without scoring and 400 minutes and 15 seconds since their last goal.
Paparesta finished with a pair of saves to notch his second clean sheet of the campaign.
Foltz totaled six saves for Northwestern who are now unbeaten (1-0-2) in their past three.
Bellevue out-shot Northwestern 15-5 on the evening, putting six shots on goal to the Red Raiders' two and out-gained NWC 5-2 in corner kicks.
Man of the Match:
Coach Mark Heath-Preston:
"It's the same story as the last five games; we needed quality in the final third at key times. I don't remember ever looking like giving a goal up but we have to improve and get on the score sheet."
Up Next:
Bellevue returns home on Tuesday, Sept. 20 when they host #4-ranked Mid-America Christian University at 2 p.m. from Papillion Landing.
