Menomonie, WI -- The North Central University (NCU) Men's Soccer team took to the road to face the University of Wisconsin Stout on Saturday. The Rams are coming off a hard-fought battle with Hamline on Wednesday and came into today's match looking to get back into the win column. North Central would do just that as senior Diego Zavala Varela's lone goal would be good enough to seal the NCU win. Freshman goalkeeper Trystin Procyk recorded a clean sheet in his first ever start for the Rams. 

To start the match, North Central had a hard time getting anything rolling on offense as they were called offside twice and recorded just one shot in the first 20 minutes. Freshman Sam Saye eventually was able to put some pressure on the Blue Devil defense as he fired off three shots early. The Rams came close to opening the scoring in the 36th minute as Ricardo Vera Martinez hit the left woodwork. Play started to get physical toward the end of the first half as either team was administered a yellow card. Half number one ended 0-0 as neither team could find the back of the net. 

In the second half, it would be the Rams that struck first. Off of an NCU free kick, junior Ricardo Vera Martinez sent a beautiful crosser into the box, and the 6'0'' senior, Diego Zavala Varela, capitalized with a header goal in the 53rd minute to take a 1-0 lead. This would be Zavala Varela's first goal of the year and Vera Martinez's third assist. NCU's defense did a good job the rest of the match to limit the Blue Devils to just 4 more shots. Goalie Trystin Procyk turned away all shots he faced as he totaled 3 saves in the second half, and 4 saves on the afternoon. The Rams held on to win 1-0 to improve to 2-2 on the season. 

Today's box score can be found here.

Looking Ahead:

Up next, men's soccer travels to UW Superior for a UMAC contest with the Yellowjackets on Wednesday, September 21st. That match will kick off at 7:00 PM. 

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on men's soccer and all things NCU Athletics.