No. 8 Men's Soccer season concludes in Sweet 16 match at Ohio Wesleyan, falling 3-2

By: Jose Nogueras

DELAWARE — Three second-half goals doomed the Ohio Northern men's soccer team, as it fell 3-2 to sixth-ranked Ohio Wesleyan in the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday night at Roy Rike Field.

The Polar Bears, ranked No. 8 coming into the game, end their season with a 20-3-2 mark. OWU, now 20-2, advances to play Hope (Mich.) in the national quarterfinals on Saturday.

Polar Bear head coach Brent Ridenour said, "it was a great season. We played a tough team tonight. We won the first half but they won the second. Overall, I am proud of the guys and how they played tonight and all season."

The three goals scored by OWU was the most goals given up by ONU since defeating Thomas More, 4-3 in overtime, back on Sept. 27. ONU had recorded shutouts in the last seven out of eight contests.

"This is the most goals we have given up in a long time, but our defense is what got us here but we ran into an amazing offensive team tonight and they deserve it," Ridenour said. "I just appreciate the way our guys have played this season. We played for each other and worked hard all season."

Ohio Northern garnered the early momentum when they went up 2-0 in the first half.

The Polar Bears offensive surge gained footing in the final 10 minutes of the first half with a number of close calls were turned away by the tenacious OWU defense.

However, the Polar Bears perseverance paid off when junior Cameron Johnson headed a shot from a cross from senior Christan Huelsman at the 43:14 mark, putting ONU up, 1-0.

Less than two minutes later, the Polar Bears were celebrating their second goal when senior Greg Stawicki kicked the ball past OWU goalie Paul Henrdricks at the 44:47 mark to give ONU a 2-0 cushion going into the second half.

The Polar Bear defense stood tall throughout the first half and continually thwarted numerous OWU offensive forays. In the first half, ONU outshot the Bishops 7-3.

In the second half, OWU began its impressive charge when Matt Bonfini scored on a give and go from Travis Wood at the 70:53 mark to cut ONU's lead in half.

The Battling Bishops got the equalizer a little more than six minutes later when Matt Shadoan beat ONU goalie Mac Church at the 76.738 mark to knot the score 2-2 with a little less than 14 minutes left in the contest.

With the momentum on their side, OWU completed the comeback when Travis Wall knocked one into the upper right hand corner of the net at the 85:51 mark to give OWU the 3-2 advantage that they would not relinquish.

In the second half, OWU outshot ONU 15-7 and 18-14 for the game.

This marks the final game for nine seniors who have recorded the most successful four-year run by any ONU squad in Polar Bear soccer history.

"We wish we would have gone further but it was a great season. I am really proud of our seniorsand the leadership they've displayed on this team," Ridenour said.