Men’s soccer notches its first win with shutout
By Mia Gallagher · Sports Editor
In the sports world, a lot can happen in 30 minutes, 10 minutes and even two minutes. This fact holds as much truth in soccer as it does anywhere else. But when a team scores four unanswered goals in a 16-minute span, that’s a statistic you want to pay attention to.
Last Friday, Sept. 5, the Grove City College men’s soccer team put up this exact scoring run in their 5-0 win over Oberlin College. This scoreboard – the culmination of a comprehensive offensive showing from the Wolverine – marks the team’s first victory of the season and sets them up well for the rest of their daunting non-conference schedule.
“The result really goes to show just how much work we put into the offseason and preseason to set ourselves up for success. It started in the summer with everyone training hard to achieve great times on our annual mile test, and it carried throughout preseason as the team and the tactics all came together,” sophomore midfielder Luke Ladas said.
Leading the offensive onslaught for the Wolverines was junior midfielder Noah Gray, who secured the first of his two goals off a penalty kick just five and a half minutes into the match. He later supplied his second goal unassisted at 18:35, extending Grove City’s unanswered lead to 3-0.
Ladas also got in on the scoring action, notching the first two goals of his collegiate career in the victory. After receiving an assist from junior forward Ryan Merrick, Ladas put away Grove City’s second goal at 11:49 into the outing. He later earned an unassisted goal of his own at 21:48, bringing the Wolverines first-half scoring tally to four.
“It feels awesome to get on the scoresheet and help the team win. Coming off my freshman year where I didn’t play much, it just feels really good to finally be able to contribute to the team’s success,” Ladas said.
Rounding out the Wolverines’ offensive effort was freshman midfielder Owner Whitehead, who tallied the team’s fifth goal of the evening in the second half.
Grove City edged Oberlin both in total shots (17-7) and shots on goal (14-3), and keepers freshman Keller Krieger and junior Anthony D’Ippolito both contributed time in goal to the shutout.
“It was a great win on Friday, but we know the season is just getting started. We have to continue to push ourselves, working our hardest in every practice and every game to get the most out of this season,” Ladas said.
After traveling to Penn State Behrend this past Wednesday, Sept. 10, the Wolverines will return home to take on Buffalo State tomorrow, Sept. 13. The match will kick off at 2 p.m. on Don Lyle Field.
