Porch’s Second Half Goal Lifts Eureka Past Blackburn

CARLINVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka men's soccer team earned a massive 1-0 road victory over Blackburn on Saturday in SLIAC play, overcoming an early lightning delay to secure the win.

The match was halted just 10 minutes in due to lightning, but play eventually resumed after a lengthy delay. Out of the stoppage, neither team could generate many chances, and the game entered the halftime break scoreless.

The second half presented more scoring opportunities for both sides. In the 59th minute, Eureka capitalized on its best chance of the match when Jovani Zuniga (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) delivered a corner kick near the frame of goal, where Landon Porch (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) beat the keeper to the ball and knocked in the game's lone goal.

Porch's strike held up behind a strong defensive effort and another stellar performance from senior goalkeeper Xavier Brisbon (Elgin, Ill./Central), who tallied five second-half saves to preserve the clean sheet.

The Red Devils (6-9-2, 2-4-1 SLIAC) generated 10 total shots and seven shots on target while limiting Blackburn (3-9-1, 0-4-1 SLIAC) to five shots on goal. Porch recorded his sixth goal of the season and his third game-winner.

The result marks a huge win for Eureka, as the Red Devils now sit tied with Spalding for sixth place in the SLIAC standings and the final spot in the conference tournament race.

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Eureka will step out of conference play for a midweek road trip, taking on Lawrence on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in a makeup of the postponed Sept. 20 matchup.