No. 8 Men's Soccer falls to No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan 2-1

By: Andrew Korba

ADA -- The No. 8 Ohio Northern men's soccer team dropped a tough contest to No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan in a battle of top-10 ranked teams on Wednesday afternoon at the ONU Soccer Field.

The Polar Bears fall to 6-1-0 on the season, while the Battling Bishops improve to 8-0-0.

The teams battled through a defensive first half, with each firing three shots apiece.

In the second half, Ohio Wesleyan had a chance to jump on the board, but Jacon Eganhouse sent a penalty kick wide to the right.

Ohio Northern would answer in the 73rd minute, when senior Stephen Perkins sent a ball that found freshman Austin Horton.

Horton would find the back of the net for his first career goal to put ONU up 1-0.

But the Battling Bishops would respond just under four minutes later.

Mason Hoge sent a ball into the box and Colton Bloecher slipped behind the defense and headed it in to tie the match at 1-1.

OWU would then take the lead at the 87:44 mark when Brian Schaefer sent a pass into the box that Bloecher blasted into the bottom left, to give Ohio Wesleyan the 2-1 lead.

Northern was unable to mount any more attacks in the closing moments.

"Ohio Wesleyan is a great team," head coach Brent Ridenour said. "Every year, we get better when we play them no matter the outcome. We will look to improve from this and move on to Thomas More on Saturday."

Freshman goalie Evan Bader made three saves in goal and falls to 6-1-0 on the season.

Colin Beemilller made three saves for the Battling Bishops and remains perfect at 8-0-0.

OWU fired 16 shots with five being on goal, while Northern took seven shots with four being on goal.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Saturday when it travels to face off against Thomas More at 2:30 pm.

The match will be shown on NSCAAtv.com at 8:30 pm on tape delay as part of the Tourbeau's National Game of the Week Broadcast.