The UIS men's soccer team dropped its final home match of the season, falling 2-0 to Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon at Kiwanis Stadium.

The Prairie Stars faced an early setback when starting goalkeeper Landon Amick received a red card in the sixth minute, forcing UIS to play the rest of the match with ten players. Edoardo Pinna came off the bench to take over in goal and immediately made an impact, denying the ensuing free kick to keep the Stars in it.

Pinna continued to come up with key saves throughout the first half, turning away multiple attempts from the Greyhounds. UIndy eventually broke through, however, as Roman Beko scored twice before halftime, including one assisted by Lucas Bedleg, to put the visitors up 2-0.

Despite being a man down, the UIS defense held strong in the second half. Pinna made six saves on the day, including stops in the 58th and 73rd minutes to deny additional UIndy chances. Offensively, the Prairie Stars registered four shots, including attempts from Corne Boshoff and Leul Mehari.

Sunday's match also marked the final home appearance for the UIS senior class. The Prairie Stars recognize Mitch Olenick, Josh Conrad, Jaime Diaz, Landon Amick, Corne Boshoff, Nathan Oba-Okusanya, Edoardo Pinna, and Ihnat Striletskyi for their contributions to the program.

"Going down to 10 men six minutes in made it an uphill battle," said head coach Graham Shaw. "There were positives in the game — the lads dug in and showed heart, especially in that second half. Losing a man in attack will always make things difficult, but we still managed to create a few good chances from set pieces."

Up Next
UIS will close out the regular season on the road with two matches next weekend. The Prairie Stars visit Lewis on Friday, Oct. 31, with kickoff in Romeoville set for 7:30 p.m. They'll then travel to Upper Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 2, for a 2:30 p.m. matchup in Fayette.