Soul nets important win

The Chicago Soul (9-12) held off the Wichita Wings (6-13) to grab an 8-6 victory at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates on Thursday night.

Led by Bato Radoncic’s pair of goals, the Soul (9-12) solidified fourth place in Major Indoor Soccer League standings and remain in the hunt for a playoff position.

“There was a lot of pressure on this game,” said Soul coach Novi Marojevic. “We knew there was a lot riding on tonight, so it was a hard game for us mentally. But overall, I think the guys played a good game and possessed the ball pretty well. They gave up some cheap goals, but they found a way to finish and win the game — and that’s what counts.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Eric Lukin put the Soul on the board in the second period when he headed home a ball from Carlos Farias.

The Wings (6-13) opened the second-half scoring when Adrian Gonzalez netted a goal to tie the game at 2-2, and Miguel Ferrer followed with a goal 10 seconds later that gave the Wings their first lead.

Radoncic provided the equalizer at 4-4 by finishing a pass from Pablo before the end of the third quarter.

Aaron Nichols put the Soul back on top, sending a ball from Matthew Stewart into the net. Radoncic rebounded his own shot less than a minute later to extend the Soul’s lead to 8-4.

With less than four minutes to play, Wichita pulled a sixth attacker and Freddy Moojen shot one past goalkeeper Jeff Richey, cutting the Soul’s advantage to 8-6.