By Joe Byers

The UW-Whitewater men’s soccer team extended their streak of recent success at home last Sunday, Oct. 1, Against the University of St. John’s Johnnies out of Collegeville, Minn.

The Warhawks beat the Johnnies 2-0 and have looked unstoppable on their home field this year. They are undefeated when playing in Whitewater and have allowed one goal in four home games.

Junior Midfielder Taylor Ortiz scored his first goal of the season in the 20th minute to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead going into the half. Freshman forward Joey Pumo then chipped in his second goal of the season in the 48th minute to extend their lead.

Defense has been a huge part of the Warhawk’s recent success, and Sunday they continued to frustrate their opponents. The Johnnies couldn’t seem to find a gap in the Warhawk defense.

Sophomore defensemen Trevor Johnson has played an important role on the defensive side of the ball but gave credit to the entire defensive.

“I think our organization in the back line and team defending has guided our success recently,” Johnson said. “The increased communication has been extremely beneficial.”

The team has won three of their last four games, and most recently came back to tie against Luther College after being down 3-0. This puts the Warhawks at 6-3-3 on the season and momentum seems to be on their side.

Whitewater head coach Tony Guinn was very happy with his team’s performance Sunday and praised the defense for the recent success.

“The fact that defensively we got another shutout was big,” Guinn said. “I credit that to guys like Trevor Johnson, Yoshi Fukushima, Jeremy Cohen, and Garrett Morgando.”

Joey Pumo and Johnson both received Wal-Mart Athletes of the week for men’s soccer after the win Sunday.

“Joey is only a freshman and he’s real creative, unbelievably fast and a real talented kid,” Guinn said. “We are counting on him to score goals and he’s only a freshman.”

“Trevor Johnson, I have known since he was ten years old and he’s nothing but a class act. He does whatever you ask him to do and has earned himself a starting spot.”

The Warhawks are a deep team with a lot of young talent. If they continue this winning trend, Johnson believes that they can make a run in the postseason.

“I expect us to keep carrying this momentum we have built up and hopefully we earn ourselves a spot in the National Tournament.” said Johnson.

The Warhawks hope to continue their home win streak this Wednesday against Augustana College at 7 p.m.

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