BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team celebrated its Seniors' Day Game with a crucial 3-0 Ohio Athletic Conference win against Muskingum University on Tressel Field in the George Finnie Stadium.
BW (9-7, 2-3 OAC) snapped its season-high three-game losing streak with its win over Muskingum (7-7-1, 0-5 OAC). The Yellow Jackets also jumped into seventh place in the OAC standings, one spot away from the coveted last playoff spot as the race narrows down.
With his four points in today's match, senior All-OAC, Academic All-OAC, and CoSIDA Academic All-American Danny Ruple (Berea/Berea-Midpark) moved into a tie for fourth place on the all-time OAC points list with 143 career points. Capital Universty's Steven McCarthy (2006-2009) currently holds the record with 156 career points.
BW used a strong start to carry its momentum for the rest of the game. The Yellow Jackets managed to get two goals from Ruple roughly one minute apart. First, in the fifth minute, sophomore defender Attila Nagy (Lakewood) sent a beautiful thru-ball for a streaking Ruple who buried his team-leading 16th goal of the season. Ruple then banked in a rebound goal in the sixth minute off of sophomore midfielder Dylan Keeling's (Rocky River) shot for his 17th.
Despite controlling the pace of the game and generating multiple excellent scoring chances, BW had to settle for one goal in the second half. In the 78th minute, senior forward Joey Geither (Parma/Normandy) zoomed down the left wing and made a marvellous pass in the box to a perfectly positioned freshman midfielder Brandon Garibotti (Berea/Berea-Midpark), who netted his first collegiate goal. The Yellow Jackets had a dominant second half, by hovering in the offensive portion of the field for the majority of the frame, and by applying relentless pressure on the Fighting Muskies' defenders and keeper. BW's dominance in the second half was highlighted by winning the shots on goal battle 7-1 as well as in corner kicks 7-2.
Yellow Jackets senior goalkeeper Patrick Mehal (Richfield/Revere) earned his 10th career shutout, stopping all four shots he faced, and improving his record to 9-7 on the year.
BW returns to the pitch on Wednesday, October 23 when it hosts crosstown rival, and No. 22 nationally-ranked John Carroll University at 7:00 p.m on Tressel Field.
