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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Logan Brown file photo
Benjy Szucs, Yellow Lab Studios
Logan Brown
0
John Carroll JCU (5-7-2, 1-1-0)
2
Winner Wooster WOO (10-0-4, 1-0-2)
John Carroll JCU
(5-7-2, 1-1-0)
0
Final
2
Wooster WOO
(10-0-4, 1-0-2)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 0 0 0
Wooster WOO 0 2 2

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

Wooster Blanks Men's Soccer in Wednesday Road Match

The Blue Streaks allowed a pair of late goals to the Fighting Scots

WOOSTER, Ohio – With fall weather finally in full swing and North Coast Athletic Conference play beginning to pick up the pace, the John Carroll Men's Soccer team treaded out for their first ever NCAC game away from University Heights to take on a familiar foe in The College of Wooster for an afternoon kickoff.

After starting off on the right foot in a 1-0 win over Oberlin College just over two weeks ago, the Blue Streaks got a harsh reality check this past Saturday at Don Shula Stadium, dropping a 3-0 game to reigning conference tournament champions DePauw. Not only were stakes high from a morality sense, but the Blue Streaks needed to take every chance they could get to get ahead in the highly competitive landscape the NCAC is turning out to be thus far.

The Fighting Scots, on the other hand, have been riding high so far this season. Despite being in the lower half of the table for much of recent memory, the team was undefeated coming into this afternoon with a 9-0-4 record to show for and a 1-0-2 conference record. After drawing even with top dogs in Denison and DePauw, they are coming off of a 2-1 win over Wabash on the weekend.

Wooster continued their invincible season from Carl Dale Field with a pair of late goals propelling past the Blue Streaks with a 2-0 victory, securing their first win over John Carroll since 2012.

The early stages of the match saw Wooster begin to nudge ahead momentum-wise, but much of the first ten minutes being played in the Blue Streaks' defensive third, but Deki's Army began to find their footing with some more possession in their attacking half about a quarter of a way through the match.

Wooster's first shot came off of a quick build up, a ball dragged across allowed for a slow shot, easy pickings for Owen Szucs. A few minutes later, Wooster would get another chance that looked nearly the same, but the freshman keeper came up with another save.

Action continued to stay back-and-forth, but offensive activity remained relatively low, with John Carroll's first convincing chance not coming until the 39th minute. A quick buildup down the left-hand flank found the feet of Harley Forkins, who advanced towards goal, cutting inside and ripping a low driven shot just wide left and out for a corner kick.

The rest of the half stayed stagnant, and both teams went into the halftime break scoreless, the game diving into a tactical chess match with both opponents just trying to figure one another out. Only seven shots were recorded through the first 45 minutes, with only three of them forcing a save from a keeper.

The second half saw more frequent offensive pushes from both teams, with John Carroll establishing themselves on the front foot more through much of the second half. Patrick Bohan got himself forward on a couple of chances inside the first 20 minutes, although not able to find either one on target.

Things evened out momentarily, but John Carroll once again quickly turned the tides, with the first-year Rafa De La Barrera peppering the Fighting Scots with a handful of shots.

Through 70 minutes, a topsy-turvey contest was coming down to the wire, and both teams were looking for their breakthrough, but unfortunately for the Blue Streaks, the Fighting Scots caught a second wind in the dying embers.

A few scares kicked off the all-out assault that Wooster were looking to inflict to close out their match at home, with a counter attack broken up at the last second by Logan Brown and another ball squared into the middle caught the wrong part of the foot of Robert Hillhouse in the middle of the box. In the 80th minute, the home team finally had their moment.

Off of a fast-paced buildup, a ball was driven towards the six yard box for spark plug substitution Aiden Faber, who crashed into the box and was met by a mistimed challenge from attacking midfielder Luka Pranjeta. Without hesitation, the referee pointed to the spot, and Elliot Miller tallied on his 13th goal involvement of the season as his shot from the spot hit the back of the net.

The Blue Streaks did what they could with the final ten minutes, but with John Carroll's final trek forward, the Fighting Scots would dispossess them, and Connor Shea received the ball at midfield and took it all the way himself, winding up from outside of the box to combat a rushing Owen Szucs, burying in shot into the bottom left and sealing the deal with 32 seconds left.

Despite a valiant effort, once again a late effort from the opposition results in a tough final scoreline, and the Blue Streaks fall to 5-7-2 with a 1-2 record within NCAC play.

Next Up
The schedule for Wenzler's Warriors does not get any easier for the final stretch, as the team will be back on the road on Saturday to take on Kenyon College in Gambier before returning home the following Wednesday for a battle with Ohio Wesleyan University.
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