BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team suffered its first home loss of the 2018 season 5-1 to Capital University in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener inside George Finnie Stadium.

The OAC's leading scorer in Chewy Gordon got the Crusaders (7-2, 1-0 OAC) off to a hot start with a goal in the fifth minute. Meanwhile, Capital just continued on the offensive, taking three more shots before the Yellow Jackets (5-5-1, 0-1 OAC) could get their first look. Gordon added a second goal in the 20th minute while Capital also netted a penalty kick just five minutes later to take a 3-0 lead. The Crusaders weren't done in the first half, however, scoring one additional goal in the 35th minute to take a 4-0 lead heading into halftime. BW's best scoring opportunity in the first half came when the reigning OAC Forward of the Year, junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Danny Ruple (Berea/Berea-Midpark) rifled a shot off the post in the 39th minute.

After a couple of Crusader shots to start the second half, a foul in the 55th minute set up a free kick for Ruple and found senior defender JT Taubeneck (Parma/Normandy) on the corner of the net. Taubeneck headed the ball over to sophomore midfielder Bryce Posner (Aurora) who got the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard with his third goal of the season. Capital answered with a goal of its own in the 66th minute to regain a four-goal advantage. The rest of the game began to get physical with fouls and cards on both sides but BW continued to work hard on offense to get good shots. The Yellow Jackets had one more opportunity to dig into the deficit with a penalty kick in the 84th minute but the Crusader goalie made a save to secure the 5-1 victory.

Junior goalkeeper Patrick Mehal (Richfield/Revere) suffered the loss as he allowed four goals in the first half, recording two saves, while senior Academic All-OAC goalkeeper Brian Haviland (Grasonville, Md./Kent Island) made two saves as he came in after halftime.

BW will continue OAC action on Wednesday, Oct. 3, when the Yellow Jackets host Ohio Northern University at 7 p.m. inside George Finnie Stadium.