Shorthanded Pride drop tough 4-1 game to Grand View

DUBUQUE, Iowa - With the Clarke University men's soccer team looking to exact some revenge from regular season and Heart Tournament losses in 2022, it was Grand View University that came away with a statement victory in a 4-1 final on Wednesday night.

In a game that was a scoreless tie for a majority of the first half, the Vikings broke through right at the 31-minute mark as Kai McPeak finished off a set piece cross from Payton Chapman to make it 1-0. It wouldn't take much longer after that with Jayce Berger sliding a ball by Fernando Contreras after a costly turnover by the Pride in their own defensive half.

The potential play of the game came with just under two minutes remaining in the half as Jose Gomez was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick but his attempt from the dot was saved by Grand View goalkeeper Bosco Pery diving to his right to keep CU off the board heading into halftime up 2-0 instead of 2-1.

Another Vikings goal came very quickly in the first half under two minutes into the second 45 with McPeak scoring his second of the game, this time off of an assist from Aaron Hafner from another costly turnover from Clarke.

The Pride's Kevin Klos got CU on the board in the 64th minute as he buried a corner kick feed from Jose Gomez to make it 3-1 but McPeak would get a hat trick less than a minute later on another assist from Hafner to quiet any comeback chances for Clarke.

Clarke men's soccer will head into the weekend with a road trip to Olathe, Kan. for a Satrurday afternoon matchup with the No. 7 team in the NAIA Coaches' Poll in MidAmerica Nazarene University for a 3:30 p.m. CT kickoff against the Pioneers.