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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Men's Soccer file photo with Nick Mikulec
Peter Wangechi
0
John Carroll JCU (7-3-2, 1-1-0)
2
Winner Mount Union MTU (8-3-1, 2-0-0)
John Carroll JCU
(7-3-2, 1-1-0)
0
Final
2
Mount Union MTU
(8-3-1, 2-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 0 0 0
Mount Union MTU 1 1 2

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Gianluca DiGiacomo, Staff Writer

Blue Streaks Fall in Tough Outing in Alliance

Purple Raiders pick up first consecutive wins over Blue Streaks since 1969-1970

ALLIANCE, Ohio – On the back end of fall break with the autumn weather settling in, the John Carroll Blue Streaks traveled an hour down to Alliance to take on their greatest rival in the Mount Union Purple Raiders one final time within Ohio Athletic Conference boundaries.

With typical chilly fall weather, a stellar atmosphere among benches and fans alike, and a bitter rivalry needing to be settled, the game had every asset going into it to be a classic derby contest from Kehres Field.

The game delivered from an entertainment perspective, but unfortunately did not go John Carroll's way as the Blue Streaks fell 2-0 to the Purple Raiders, giving them their first pair of consecutive victories over the Blue Streaks since 1970.

With an atmospheric stadium during the pregame and two teams amped up to take each other on, the energy was palpable and we were ready to go.

Within the first 30 seconds, the Blue Streaks had already slipped up; a giveaway straight off the kickoff set a quick counter attack and a ball laid off for Mount Union's Tyler Harsch, who sent the ball over the bar at the front post.

Once the Blue Streaks got their act together, the squad began to apply a good deal of pressure on the Purple Raiders through much of the first half. Chances began to come in the fourth minute, with a struggle for possession resulting in Logan Penton squaring it towards the center of the top of the box and Hayden Haffner lacing a half-volley wide right of the goal.

Seven minutes later, the Blue Streaks got another decent chance off of a long throw, headed away towards the left side for Louis Roseberry, who would also send it wide.

John Carroll gave their fans another scare just a minute afterwards, as a ball in the air forced Izac Coleman to try a header back to goalkeeper Brenden Moher. The ball lacked the necessary steam to get to the keeper, and the sophomore Tyler Harsch tracked it down. Fortunately, Moher did well with damage control, forcing Harsch wide enough to lack a decent look at goal and it was once again shot over the bar.

Mount Union's true colors began shining very early on; moving very well as a unit and presenting their hardworking, fist-to-face style of play. With a slow turn in momentum, the Purple Raiders found their mark soon after.

In the 21st minute, Mount Union opened the scoring. After winning the ball in the center of the park, junior Reese Utter sent a ball through for Carter Hancock racing up the pitch. Making up an insane bit of ground, Hancock beat a Blue Streak off the back shoulder, blistering through on goal and tapping it past a rushing Brenden Moher at the front post.

A big stepback in front of them, the Blue Streaks kept their heads screwed on their shoulders, with a couple of looks afterwards, including an effort on a long throw forcing a massive reflex save from the keeper Lucas Fields in the 28th minute.

Continuing the trend from much of the first half, much of the buildup was there, but the Blue Streaks were too conservative in front of goal, and the Purple Raiders showed some tremendous defensive efforts in the final moments of each possession.

Coming out of the gate in the second half, it was much of the same; the Purple Raiders letting the game come to them and maximizing their time on the ball while the Blue Streaks scrambled to navigate around their opposition.

In the 71st minute, Carter Hancock stepped up once again and put the game to bed. As the Blue Streaks jousted with the 5th year in order to let the ball roll out for a goal kick, Hancock tapped the ball past, penetrated inside of the box, and once again tapped a shot past Moher for the second. Another goal courtesy of purely hard work for one of the OAC's best players.

With a couple more scares on both sides of the ball to close out, the final whistle blew, and as it stands, the Purple Raiders got the last laugh against the Blue Streaks from Kehres Stadium, improving to 8-3-1 on the season and defeating two of the best teams in the OAC in their opening pair of matches.

For the Blue Streaks, they have their OAC home opener to look forward to this Saturday with a 7 pm kickoff, looking to get back on track in conference play against Capital University.
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