Dirty Money Island couldn’t seem to buy a goal in its co-rec intramural soccer game against the Monstars on Monday.

The team struggled to send the ball past the body of the Monstars’ goalie. But Dirty Money didn’t change the plan and managed to pull out a 2-1 win at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex.

Dirty Money set the tempo early, but the Monstar players were ahead by a goal after only five minutes of play.

Dirty Money shifted its attention from defense to offense and began sending more shots flying toward the goal. While none was successful, the offensive dominance did prevent the Monstars from keeping significant possession of the ball.

Each team struggled with execution close to the goal in the first half, and shots either flew away from the goal or into the goalkeepers’ hands. Dirty Money found this especially true, despite its advantage in the attempted goals.

The Monstars failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities that could have put the game away early. Dirty Money’s goalie left the box repeatedly to dribble to midfield before passing it to one of his teammates. The Monstars never executed, finding their attempts at scoring in the open goal stolen or blocked by the retreating goalie.

"We didn’t challenge the goalies," the Monstars’ captain, Paul Kleen, said. "We didn’t get any offense going on the field."

The second half was a different story for Dirty Money; the team elected to place Ashley Renteria and Elyse Destefano in front of the net for the second period.

"Our first goalie wasn’t giving us the performance we wanted," Dirty Money’s David Lyle said. "Renteria and Destefano had huge performances as goalies in the second half."

Dirty Money also tied the game, thanks to Gabe Crall, who snuck the ball past the keeper in the midst of a mob in front of the goal.

Both teams shifted to more defensive styles with the game even. The Monstar players again had numerous scoring opportunities on counterattacks, but all ended in turnovers or rushed shots.

Dirty Money’s Garrett Warner managed to send the ball flying past the keeper, leaving the Monstars with just over four minutes to score.

"We took a lot more shots and kept [the Monstar players] on their heels," Warner said. "We knew if we took enough shots, they would go in. We really stepped up and played high-pressure defense."

The Monstar players continued to struggle with their execution, failing to find open teammates and turning the ball over on crucial possessions.

But the Monstars only need to score one goal in their next match to knock Dirty Money out of the playoffs, because Dirty Money failed to beat the Monstars by two goals and are still behind in the standings because of the goal differential.

"The fact that we lost doesn’t matter," Kleen said. "Next game, as long as we score one goal, we stay."