BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team celebrated Seniors' and Parents' Day in a 4-2 loss to Marietta College in the Ohio Athletic Conference and regular season finale inside George Finnie Stadium.
Prior to the start of the game, BW (7-10-2, 2-6-1 OAC) took the time to honor the team's nine seniors: Academic All-OAC goalkeeper Brian Haviland (Grasonville, Md./Kent Island), defender JT Taubeneck (Parma/Normandy), forward Logan Davis (Hinckley/Medina Highland), junior midfielder Kurt Raney (Mentor), senior forward Ryan Hassell (Southampton, Bermuda/Western Reserve Academy), senior defender Joey Rini (Vermillion), Academic All-OAC defender Jeremy Foust (Strongsville), senior forward Nick Principe (Galena/Olentangy) and senior Academic All-OAC defender Michael Somody (North Canton/Hoover). All nine were a part of the starting lineup and received a nice standing ovation just after the opening kick as most were subbed off the field, marking the end of their Yellow Jacket careers.
Marietta (10-8, 4-5 OAC) was out to play Senior Day spoiler from the very beginning, displaying a lot of aggression and energy on offense. In just the sixth minute of the game, the Pioneers' leading scorer entering the game picked up a blocked shot and rifled it into the net to put Marietta up 1-0. After a few additional Marietta shots, the Yellow Jackets capitalized on an own goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the 12th minute. The game would only remain tied for 10 minutes before the Pioneers regained the lead in the 22nd minute. Although the rest of the half passed without another goal, BW was not without opportunities with two shots on goal from junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Danny Ruple (Berea/Berea-Midpark) and junior Academic All-OAC forward Joey Geither (Parma/Normandy) that were saved.
After each team traded a few shots to open the second half, a Ruple corner kick in the 58th minute set up the game-tying goal as he found freshman defender Reed Watkins (Munster, Ind.) for the freshman's first collegiate goal. Marietta was not fazed by the shift in momentum and regained the lead for good in the 60th minute. Halfway through the period, the intensity kicked up a notch as fouls and yellow cards started flying on both sides. Haviland was able to keep the Yellow Jackets within one goal of the lead as he notched three saves in the period but the Pioneers finished off the afternoon with their final goal in the 79th minute to secure the 4-2 victory.
All three Yellow Jacket goalies saw time in the net against the Pioneers. Haviland made the Senior Day start and suffered the loss as he made three saves in the five shots on goal he faced in just over 45 minutes. Junior goalkeeper Patrick Mehal (Richfield/Revere) allowed one goal and made two saves before having to leave due to an injury while freshman goalie Corey Jones (Wakeman/Firelands) made his collegiate debut with one save in just over 32 minutes of action.
BW finished the 2018 season with an overall mark of 7-10-2 and an OAC record of 2-6-1 and will return most of its key offensive weapons for the 2019 campaign.
