Lourdes closed out the non-conference portion of the 2021 season on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Goshen 2-1 at Wildcat Stadium.
 
"This was a difficult game against a Goshen team that was physically strong and well-organized," head coach Matt Johnson said afterwards.  "We're really encouraging our wide players to have confidence running at defenders and being direct with the ball.  Both goals came from those moments with Diego drawing the PK and Huss beating a couple of defenders before slotting it across to Farouk for the second."
 
Farouk Amoo (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood H.S.) scored both goals for the Gray Wolves, giving him six on the season and five over his last two matches.
 
Diego Pereira (Asuncion, Paraguay/Cristo Rey) gave the Gray Wolves the opportunity to take the early lead, drawing a foul in the penalty area at the 15:28 mark of the opening half.  Amoo then stepped up to take the penalty kick and converted the opportunity to make it 1-0 Lourdes.
 
Goshen (3-2-3) evened the match with 3:45 remaining before halftime.  Emmanuel Fakoyede's attempt deflected across the box to Lucas Bontreger, who scored to tie the match heading into intermission.
 
Each team had just three shot attempts in the opening 45 minutes.
 
Hussein Sbeiti (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn H.S.) started the play that put Lourdes in front for good with 23:06 to play.  He sent a cross from the right into the middle of the box where Amoo collected and scored his second match-winner of the season.  For Sbeiti, it was his second assist of the year as well.
 
The Gray Wolves outshot the Maple Leafs 8-3 in the second half for an 11-6 match total.  Jorge Mendoza (Houston, Texas/Houston Heights H.S.) made two first half saves for Lourdes while Garrett Baxley (Trenton, Ohio/Edgewood H.S.) made one stop in the final stanza.  Matias da Fonseca had three saves for Goshen.
 
"We're pleased with how the non-conference season has gone overall, but we start at 0-0 in the WHAC next week," Johnson added.  "Nothing has been accomplished yet and there is a lot of work to be done."
 
Lourdes (5-2) will have 10 days off before returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 25, as the Gray Wolves open Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action on the road at Siena Heights.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at O'Laughlin Stadium in Adrian, Mich.