Polar Bears close curtain on 2018 regular season home slate, fall to Capital 6-0 on Senior Night

By Blake Moore

ADA - The Ohio Northern men's soccer program dropped a 6-0 decision to Ohio Athletic Conference front-runner Capital on a cold, damp Saturday evening at Kerscher Stadium in Ada, Ohio during their 2018 regular season home finale.

The Polar Bears move to 11-5-1 overall and to 4-3-0 in OAC action. Meanwhile, the Crusaders rise to 12-3-0 on the season with a 6-1-0 mark against the conference loop.

The men's soccer program would honor the team's seven senior class members on the 2018 roster following the weekend matchup. Northern recognized the individuals for their hard work, dedication, and contributions to the school and the program during the past four seasons.

On the field, ONU would find themselves down early as the Ohio Athletic Conference's leading goal-scorer Chewy Gordon put the visitors on the board just over five minutes into the match. A deflected clear attempt by the Ohio Northern backline would ricochet direcly to Gordon's feet, which he subsequently buried in the right side netting as the eventual game-winner.

Capital would score three more times in the opening frame, including two braces from Gordon to give him a hat trick on the evening.

In the second half of play, the Crusaders would strike again in the 49th and 59th minutes on shots by Daniel Bundschuh and Tristan Bentley, respectively, to complete the scoring.

Offensively, sophomore midfielder Jimmy Walkinshaw (Plymouth, Mich./Canton) paced the Polar Bear offense with three shots on the evening. Meanwhile, sophomore midfielder Danny Sasak (Berea/Midpark), senior Anthony DeNoi (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), junior Luke Fickenworth (Cincinnati/Anderson), and sophomore Zach Yoder (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) each registered two shots.

In net, senior William Velotta (Gates Mills/Gilmour Academy) received the nod to start the match. He would register a pair of saves in just over 30 minutes in goal before freshman John Lombardo (Solon) took over to tally three saves in 45 minutes of play.

Despite the final scoreline, Ohio Northern outshot their weekend guests 18-16 overall. In addition, the Polar Bears received 10 corner kick opportunities, compared to just four for the Crusaders.

ONU will return to action on the road as they travel to Otterbein next Wednesday evening for a pivotal OAC showdown at Memorial Stadium in Westerville. Match time is set for 7 p.m.