Pride take home 3-1 road victory over Trinity Christian

PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. - Coming off of losing a second half lead in their 2021 opener, the Clarke University men's soccer team look like they may have had a repeat performance Friday afternoon against Trinity Christian on their way to a 3-1 win.

The Pride held a 1-0 lead into halftime after a Luke Persenico goal in the fourth minute but the Trolls found the back of the net right at the 57-minute mark as Grant Koops tied it up at 1-1.

That tie didn't last long as CU was able to earn a penalty kick just 19 seconds later as head coach Mike Paye called upon Joao Fernandes to take the penalty as he buried it to make it 2-1. Clarke held the lead and extended it to the eventual final of 3-1 after Patrick Asamoah netted his first goal of the season in the 76th minute.

Not to be lost in the three goal performance by the Pride was the effort in goal from Jan Paule as the senior faced eight shots on goal and saved all but one of them. On the reverse side, Clarke only took four shots on goal and three of them went in the net.

Up next for CU will be their first regular season home game of the 2021 season when they host University of St. Francis at Burrows Field on Tues. Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. CT.