Box Score Champaign, Il -- September 4, 2026 -- The No. 17 Parkland men's soccer team hosted South Suburban College in their home opener on Friday afternoon in Champaign, ending in a 1-1 draw after a late second half goal from the Bulldogs.

Parkland would strike first in the 45th minute thanks to a goal from Believe Avida off an assist from Simonas Ankstutis to give the Cobras a 1-0 lead at the half, but South Suburban hit a late equalizer on a penalty kick in the 83rd minute, ending the game in a draw as neither team would find the net in the final minutes. As a team, the Cobras finished with 24 total shots with eight shots on goal and three corner kicks, while limiting South Suburban to two shots on goal for the match. Alexander Williams led the team with five shots of his own with three on goal while Johan Cortez, Collin Jackson and Believe Avida each finished with two shots, one on goal.

Head coach Mark Sikora commented on the team putting in their best effort despite the challenges they faced this afternoon:

"This game was difficult enough with the large number of injuries that we have and with the heat. We did not do ourselves any favors by not taking our scoring chances. Big round of applause for our backline players and goalkeepers for almost all of the game by giving us a chance to win. But it is difficult to win when you can't score, and you play on a razor's edge where one thing that can go wrong sinks the whole thing, and that was the story for us today. Great shifts put in today in the heat by Dylan Blagden and Jinwoo Choi who played the whole game. In the attack we created good things through Believe Avida"

With the draw, the Cobras move to 0-1-2 on the season while the Bulldogs move to 0-2-1.

Up Next:
The Cobras will be back on the road next week, heading to River Grove to face Triton College on Tuesday, September 8th at 5 PM.