BEREA, Ohio – The excitement surrounding the Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team's home opener was dampened by a loss to non-conference opponent Denison University by a final score of 2-1 on the Tressel Field inside The George Finnie Stadium.
On a positive note for BW (2-2), senior three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Danny Ruple (Berea/Berea-Midpark) scored his 46th career goal as a member of BW's men's soccer program. He is now tied for the all-time goals record with Yellow Jacket alumnus Carlin Vandendriessche who competed for the squad back in 2008 until 2011. Only four games into the season, Ruple has a fantastic shot at not only breaking the record, but widely distancing himself from those who can challenge it in the future.
The first half featured a relatively even-sided affair. Both teams exchanged several promising chances early on but could not capitalize first. In the 25th minute, BW senior midfielder Rafael Davalos (Kettering/Alter) was chosen to take a penalty kick and potentially take the lead, but his attempt was stopped by a dazzling save from the Denison (3-1) goalkeeper. Six minutes later, the two-time Academic All-American Ruple scored his record-tying and team-leading fifth goal of the campaign off a wonderful cross by senior forward Joey Geither (Parma/Normandy). However, the Big Red punctually avenged the early deficit by scoring with 14 seconds remaining in the first half to nod the score up at 1-1. The timely goal was scored by freshman Tony Beuchly.
Denison continued right where they left off in the second half when senior Matt Rush scored at the 57th minute to put his team up 2-1. The rest of the match turned into a goalkeeper duel as both tenders got peppered with shots but kept every single one of them out of the net. The physical play was also turned up a notch in the tightly fought game, as three yellow cards were handed out to Big red players in the second half alone. Despite their valiant effort to equalize the score, the Yellow Jackets eventually ran out of time.
Senior goalkeeper, Patrick Mehal (Richfield/Revere) looked impressive in goal for BW, making several sprawling saves in tonight's contest. He recorded five saves on seven shots in his fourth start of the season, as his record fell to 2-2.
The Yellow Jackets are back on the pitch Wednesday evening when they travel to Wooster for a non-conference matchup with the College of Wooster at 5:00 p.m.
