BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team battled to a scoreless double overtime tie with Heidelberg University in Ohio Athletic Conference action inside George Finnie Stadium.
Both teams competed for possession throughout the first half and did not have many scoring opportunities as the Student Princes (5-5-1, 2-1-1 OAC) and the Yellow Jackets (6-6-2, 1-2-1 OAC) only combined for nine total shots in the period. Not one of those nine shots were on goal. BW's best look perhaps came in a six minute span that started with a wide-right shot off the foot of the reigning OAC Forward of the Year, junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Danny Ruple (Berea/Berea-Midpark), in the 11th minute. A corner kick from Ruple in the same time frame also helped to create a header shot for senior forward Logan Davis (Hinckley/Medina Highland) that was blocked.
After a solid 60 minutes of play, junior midfielder Kurt Raney (Mentor) finally took the game's first shot on goal but, unfortunately, had it saved by the Student Prince goalie. Meanwhile, Heidelberg took its first shot on goal in the 68th minute but junior goalkeeper Patrick Mehal (Richfield/Revere) fell right on the ball for his only save of the night. The Yellow Jackets had their chances to net the game-winning goal late as Raney rifled off three shots in the final 10 minutes, all of which were saved to send the game into overtime.
BW was the aggressor in both overtime periods. In the first extra time, two different shots on goal from senior Academic All-OAC defender Jeremy Foust (Strongsville) and a late break-away from Ruple almost proved to be the end of the game. The Yellow Jackets took all six shots in the second overtime period with the two shots on goal coming from Ruple in the 105th minute and Raney in the 107th minute.
Mehal saved the only shot on goal he faced all night as his back line of Foust, senior defender JT Taubeneck (Parma/Normandy), freshman Trevor Hamm (Strongsville) and freshman defender Reed Watkins (Munster, Ind.) did most of the hard work keeping the Student Princes at bay. With its offensive output in overtime, BW held the advantage in shots (23-12) and shots on goal (9-1) while Heidelberg took 11 corner kicks to the Yellow Jackets' 10.
BW will travel to New Concord on Saturday, Oct. 13, to face off with Muskingum University in Ohio Athletic Conference action at 4 p.m. on the North Athletic Turf Field.
