Box Score CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 8 ranked Parkland College men's soccer team powered past visiting East Central College on Wednesday, October 11, winning 3-1. The Cobras (11-3-1) opened the scoring against the Falcons (8-6-1) with a second-half goal from sophomore Logan Woodward, and freshman Hidenori Akasaka finished off a Kyohei Kuroda assist in the 69th minute to double the lead. ECC got a goal back late in the game, but Ron Naftali buried a penalty kick in the closing stages to finish off the 3-1 win. The Parkland defense held the visitors to just two shots on goal in the win.

"Today's story was all about surviving until halftime," head coach Mark Sikora said after the win. "Thankfully, we were able to hold a very physical East Central team to a limited number of clear goal-scoring opportunities and gave ourselves a chance to find one goal."
 
"We had a great boost from Grant Koplinski and Logan Woodward, and the rest of them followed their lead," Sikora noted. "The second half was great for us. It was not perfect, but it was good enough for us to pull away in the end and a win that should make the team proud."
 
Scoring Summary:
PARKLAND GOAL: Logan Woodward 53' (Assisted by Hidenori Akasaka)
PARKLAND GOAL: Hidenori Akasaka 69' (Assisted by Kyohei Kuroda)
ECC GOAL: 81'
PARKLAND GOAL: Ron Naftali 87' (PK)
 
Up next, Parkland travels to No. 17 (DI) Lewis & Clark Community College on Saturday, October 14, for the final road game of the regular season. Kick-off against the Trailblazers (9-2-2) is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Godfrey, Illinois.