By Sam Fetherlin · Staff Writer
Four goals in eight minutes helped Grove City College’s men’s soccer team overcome an early deficit against Chatham University on Friday night in front of a Homecoming weekend crowd.
The undefeated Wolverines entered the match as the favorite against Chatham, which had one win this season, but at 3:20, Chatham defender Charlie Ayers headed home a central free kick to take a 1-0 lead.
It took 20 minutes for Grove City to mount a response, but when it did, the game quickly turned in its favor. The tide turned at 21:09 when Ayers was shown a red card for bringing down Grove City senior midfielder Noah Gray on a breakaway.
A minute later, the Wolverines won a corner kick on the right. Senior defender Theo Campbell curled the ball directly into the far corner of the net, leveling the score at 1-1 and celebrating with his teammates in front of the home fans.
“It felt great to score directly from a corner kick, especially with it being the game-tying goal at home on Homecoming,” Campbell said. “I had a lot of family at the game, as well as former teammates at the game, so it was pretty cool to score for them. The bonds I have with guys who have graduated are super strong, so it was awesome to see them and mark the occasion with a win.”
Campbell also notched an assist at 26:02, again from a corner kick. Senior defender Colton Hudson rose highest to redirect the ball home from six yards out.
A quick pair of goals from Gray in the following few minutes gave Grove City a 4-1 lead, and sophomore forward Andrew Perry registered a fifth before halftime. Perry drove the ball past the diving goalkeeper into the bottom-left corner from well outside the penalty area.
“It obviously didn’t feel great to concede early,” Campbell said. “But we knew we were the better team and had a game plan to win. We were never worried and just continued to do the things we knew we had to do to win.
“What stood out to me was our ability to move the ball quickly around Chatham’s defense. We just kept going at them down the flanks, and eventually it paid off.”
Grove City held a 7-3 edge in first-half shots but stepped it up in the second half, outshooting Chatham 14-0. Gray completed his hat trick at 49:30, and sophomore midfielder Cristian Garcia scored from the penalty spot at 52:15.
The match finished 7-1, extending Grove City’s perfect start in conference play to 5-0. The win improved its chances of a top two finish and a bye to the playoff semifinals. Winning the conference outright would also ensure home-field advantage for those playoff games.
“We want to repeat what we did last year and win the PAC while going undefeated in the conference,” Campbell said. “Beyond that, we want to go on a run in the NCAA tournament, and we have the squad to do so.”
The Wolverines also beat Westminster on Wednesday and will travel to Franciscan University of Steubenville, last year’s PAC runner-up, for a 7 p.m. game Saturday.
