History
CHICAGO, Ill. — The University of Chicago men’s soccer team picked up a 2-0 win over Aurora on Saturday night to extend their unbeaten streak and clean sheet streak to four consecutive games.
The Spartans had the first chance to score in the 13th minute when they whipped in a ball from the left side, and Branden Dolezal was able to get a foot to the cross, but Ali Alamery was there to make the save. That shot for Aurora would be the only shot on goal for either side in the opening 45 minutes as the two teams went into the break scoreless.
In the second half, the Spartans once again came out of the locker room with the momentum as they had first three shots of the half, but UChicago was able to draw first blood in the 53rd minute after Sean Cooke played a ball to the middle of the field and Giovanni Caselli beat his defender down the line and buried a one-on-one with the keeper in the bottom corner to give the Maroons the 1-0 advantage. The goal for Caselli was the first career goal for the freshman striker.
Just three minutes later, the Maroons had a chance to double their lead after Caselli laid off a ball in the box to William Stewart, but the Aurora keeper made a diving save to keep the lead at one.
In the 67th minute, the insurance came for UChicago as Samuel Jimenez laid a ball off on the left side to Eli Weene who whipped in a cross, finding the head of Chase Perry for his first career goal, pushing the advantage to 2-0.
Aurora had their best chance to find the back of the net in the 68th minute when the Spartans had a clear strike at the top of the 18 off of a set piece, but Sean Cooke was able to clear the ball off the line for the Maroons to keep UChicago in front.
The Maroons would have several more chances to add to their lead, but they would see out the victory over the final 20 minutes to seal the 2-0 win.
Ali Alamery was a star in goal once again for the Maroons with 1 save en route to his fourth consecutive clean sheet. He is the first UChicago keeper since Will Boyes in 2021 to record four consecutive clean sheets. The Maroons also push their consecutive shutout minutes streak to 423 with the win. This ranks as the 7th-longest streak in the past 15 years and the longest since their 552 minute shutout streak in 2021.
With the win, the Maroons improve to 2-1-2 on the season. UChicago will return to action on Wednesday night as they host Hope College at 6 PM.
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