The visiting Ottawa boys soccer team rebounded from a shutout loss to Sycamore on Monday and picked up its second Interstate 8 Conference win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Morris on Saturday at Morris.

The first half of the game was a good defensive battle from both teams with the half ending in a 1-1 tie.

But Ottawa’s offense stepped up in the second half to improve the Pirates’ record to 9-5 overall and 2-3 in the conference. For Morris it was the team’s sixth loss in a row as it fell to 1-13 overall and 0-5 in the conference.

Morris managed to get on the board first with a goal from junior striker Grant Sparrow with 23:23 remaining in the first half.

Morris junior forward August Valdivia narrowly missed a chance to give Morris a 2-0 lead when his shot bounced off the goal post.

This gave Ottawa time to catch up and tie the game 1-1 with senior midfielder Manuel Saucedo-Garcia scoring Ottawa’s first goal with 15:31 remaining in the half.

Morris took some hits to its team with Sparrow briefly having to leave the game in the first half after falling on his right arm. Senior Giovanni Archer also had to leave the game in the second half with minor injuries after a midfield collision.

Ottawa was led by senior striker Jorge Lopez, who recorded one assist and one goal for the Pirates and junior goaltender Landry Brenbarger, who finished with 13 saves.

Lopez scored on a header and an assist from sophomore midfielder Rory Moore to make it 2-1 at the 36:18 mark. Lopez received a yellow card after continuing with the ball to Morris’ net after an offsides whistle was blown. Lopez attempted another shot that bounced off the goalpost but freshman midfielder Hunter Heuser was able to get the ball and kick it past Morris junior goaltender Grady Jensen to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead.

Lopez is the Pirates’ leading scorer this season and he believes his excellence with headshots is beneficial to the Pirates’ offense.

“We’re finding each other, we’re communicating a lot and we’re finding the gaps,” Lopez said. “Rory is one of our best players who are always giving me the ball to score because they know I am going to score.”

Lopez said his success with headers is about finding the right space.

“You always got to find the space, use your mind and see where the ball is going, you’ve got to always find the ball and that’s what makes me so smart,” Lopez said.

Ottawa head coach Kevin Olessen said the Pirates’ ability to move the ball on offense led to their second half takeover.

“I think the guys are doing a better job of moving the ball and we’re trying to diversify our attack and use both sides of the field,” Olessen said. “It felt like today, in the heat we were able to keep our composure and stick to that game plan.”

Olessen said he believes the Pirates can improve more on the way they finish.

“We still just need to work on finishing,” Olessen said. “We’re getting a lot of good opportunities and coming up short. Today was a little bit better than what we have seen in recent games, so I am encouraged by that, but we just have to stay healthy down the stretch here and keep getting better as a program.”

Olessen said getting a win in conference is a confidence.

“Anytime you get a win in our conference, our conference is strong,” Olessen said. “I know that Morris has struggled this season but they’re a good program. So we came in here today knowing what to expect and they showed us just that.”

Morris coach David Valdivia said Ottawa did a great job in taking over the game in the second half.