Men's Soccer drops first conference decision 1-0 at Baldwin Wallace

By Blake Moore

BEREA - The Ohio Northern men's soccer team dropped a tight 1-0 conference affair to Ohio Athletic Conference foe Baldwin Wallace Saturday evening at George Finnie Stadium.

The loss snaps a seven-match win streak and moves the Polar Bears to 8-3-1 overall and to 1-1-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets improve to 6-5-1 on the season with a similar 1-1-0 mark in league action.

Both sides would be deadlocked through the first 87 minutes of the match Wednesday evening before Baldwin Wallace junior forward Joey Geither recorded the lone strike of the night in the 88th minute. Teammate Danny Ruple would be credited with an assist as Geither posted his fourth brace of the season.

Sophomore defender Beelal Hasan (Westerville/Thomas) and freshman midfielder Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) would lead the Polar Bears offensively with three shots each on the night.

In net, freshman goalkeeper John Lombardo (Solon) dropped his first decision of the 2018 campaign, moving his record to 5-1-0 when starting in goal. The reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week would register three saves in the match while logging all 90 minutes of action Wednesday evening.

Despite the scoreline, Northern would hold a 20-12 total shots advantage over their midweek hosts, including an 8-4 margin in shots on goal. ONU would also finish the match with seven corner kicks while Baldwin Wallace was awarded just one in the conference affair.

The Polar Bears will return to the road this Saturday as they travel to Muskingum for another Ohio Athletic Conference competition. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at the North Athletic Turf Field in New Concord.