Chicago, IL – Illinois Tech men's soccer surrendered to their second consecutive home loss with a 3-1 defeat to Trinity International University. After a scoreless first half, TIU scored twice within a minute to secure the win. Nordine Amlaiky gave the home side a lifeline with a goal in the 70th minute but any hopes of a comeback were extinguished when the Trojans' Zach Regent grabbed his second of the night to make it 3-1.
A cool Chicago night coupled with a slick Stuart Field surface made conditions tricky with both sides struggling to gain the ascendency in the midfield. The half time whistle brought a close to a somewhat pedestrian half of soccer.
At half time the Scarlet Hawks honored their graduating seniors;Jorge Salas-Moreno, Nordine Amlaiky and Robert Rixer. Both teams returned in the second half looking to break the deadlock and it was Joseph Sanborn for TIU who found the net after crashing home a near post ball from 5 yards. Just 0:47 seconds later, TIU had a second goal through a free kick by Zach Reget. The Hawks were called for a foul resulting in Reget guiding the free kick past IIT'sBart Grabowski to double the visitor's advantage.
IIT were given a spark of life when Nordine Amlaiky found his 5th goal of the season in the 70th minute. Amlaiky managed to get a toe to a lofted through ball which evaded TIU's goalkeeper and snuck inside the left upright. However any hopes of a resurgence were short lived as Regent scored his second goal of the evening to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 5-6-3 on the season with the defeat sliding them below .500 for the first time in over a month. IIT will look to end the slide when they take on Olivet Nazarene in Bourbonnais on Saturday evening.