Box Score NORMAL, Ill. – No. 8 Parkland men's soccer dropped a top-20 match to No. 13 Heartland Community College on Wednesday, September 11th. The Cobras (2-1-2) got ahead early with a goal by Shion Hayashi in the 18th minute, but they were unable to score again. Matteo Puli had four saves in the 3-1 loss.
 
"The game was exactly what you would expect when you have two Top 20 teams battling in our region," Parkland head coach Mark Sikora stated after the game. "We started well, but just ran out of gas in the second half and could not get back to the earlier high levels.  Even though we got great work from Ebenezer Boti, Kaya Karabeyaz-Cowling, and Clinton Mawusi in the center back positions and Noah Barkley in the central midfield, we could not capitalize on our scoring opportunities and that turned out to be a major issue."
 
The Hawks (3-3) scored in the last several minutes of the first half, tying the game 1-1. The match remained tied until the 56th minute, when the Hawks found the back of the net again. Parkland was unable to come back from the deficit, allowing Heartland to score once more at the end of the match. 
 
"Heartland just kept pushing us around and we did not rise to the challenge," Sikora added. "We will have to learn and get better."
 
Scoring Summary: 
PARKLAND GOAL: 18th minute – Shion Hayashi
HEARTLAND GOAL: 43rd minute
HEARTLAND GOAL: 56th minute
HEARTLAND GOAL: 90th minute
 
Up next, the Cobras travel to Quincy, Illinois, to play another conference match against John Wood Community College. Kick-off against the Blazers (0-2-2) is scheduled for 2:00 PM on Wednesday, September 18th.