FENTON, Mo. - In a battle between two of the top teams this season in the Central Region, Webster University suffered a 2-0 hard-fought setback to Illinois Wesleyan in a physically played non-conference contest here Tuesday evening at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

With the setback, Webster concludes non-conference play with an 8-2-0 record, while IWU improves to 7-1-0. The eight regular season non-conference wins are the most for the Gorloks since the 1994 squad won nine regular season non-conference matches. 

In the latest United Soccer Central Region rankings that were released on Tuesday afternoon, Illinois Wesleyan was ranked fifth, while the Gorloks, who were ranked seventh last week, was one of seven teams to receive votes in this week's poll. 

Tuesday's match was a physical affair as it featured 31 fouls being called and four yellow cards, including three on the Titans. IWU finished the night with 17 fouls, while the Gorloks were called for a season-high 14 fouls as they were whistled for seven in each half. 

IWU's first goal came in the 15th minute of the match as Mason Maier drew a foul inside the box that led to a penalty kick. Maier connected on the penalty kick for his third goal of the season to give the Titans a 1-0 lead. 

Maier would give IWU a 2-0 lead in the 19th minute as he took a rebound shot from Ben Nielsen and connected on a shot off the post for his second goal of the match and fourth of the season.

Those would be the only two scores of the night as the Titans held the Gorloks without a goal for the first time this season as Webster entered the match averaging nearly two goals per match on the year. 

For the match, Webster was outshot, 21-10 as the Titans took 11 shots in the first half and had 10 shots in the second half. 

In the 30th minute, sophomore midfielder Hunter Olaso (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii/Kealakehe) had WU's only shot on goal in the first half, but his attempt at the goal was saved by Alex Ruckstaetter. 

After only taking four shots and one shot on goal in the opening half, Webster took six shots and had three shots on goal  in the second half. 

In the 69th minute, freshman forward Cody Ruhl (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) took a shot at that saved by Ruckstaetter and then in the 72 minute, junior defender Justin Schmidt (St. Louis, Mo./Metro) took a header that was saved at the net. 

About six-and-half minutes after Schmidt's header, sophomore defender Dylan Jannin (Perryville, Mo./Perryville) almost connected on a goal that was saved by Ruckstaetter. 

In the 82nd and 84th minutes, freshman forward Aamahn Murvin (Sahuarita, Ariz./Walden Grove) and freshman midfielder Isaac Pearson (St. Louis, Mo./Maplewood)each had shot attempts that were wide right and wide left respectively.

Murvin had two of Webster's 10 shots in the match, while eight other Gorloks took one shot apiece in the loss. 

Orion Marty took five of his team's 21 shots and had three of IWU's 10 shots on goal. In addition to Marty, Maier, Keagan  James, Donovan Malone and Zack Koles each had two shots for the Titans. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Amick (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) allowed two goals and made three saves as he played in the first half en route to earning the loss in the net and dropping his record to 7-2-0 on the season. Freshman Matt Coffey (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) played the final 45 minutes in his second career match and recorded five saves and didn't allow a goal. 

Ruckstaetter (7-1-0) earned the win in net as he played all 90 minutes and recorded four saves and posted his third shutout of the season.

Webster will now turn its focus to St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play as they open its nine-match league slate on Saturday, Sept. 29 as they host MacMurray College in a 3 p.m. match at WWT Soccer Park.