By: Ryan Schadewald, sports information assistant
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Bluffton men’s soccer team battled through 110 minutes to tie the Manchester University Spartans by a 2-2 score on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The tie gets the Beavers to 0-11-1, while Manchester is now 4-6-3.
The scoring started right away, as just 40 seconds into the contest Ryan Johnson-Evers (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) scored on a feed from Blake Drewes (Archbold) to surprise Manchester and take a 1-0 advantage. The Spartans responded quickly when a goal from Tod Oram at the 5:50 mark knotted the match at 1-1, a score that would remain through the end of the opening stanza.
In the 63rd minute, Manchester opened a 2-1 lead on Oram’s second score of the afternoon. However, the Beavers would respond with a goal by Appiah Adubofour (Kumasi/Ghana) courtesy of an assist from Jake Headings (Cincinnati/McNicholas) to tie the match at 2-2, the score that held up through regulation.
The Spartans dominated the first extra frame, outshooting the Beavers 3-0 but not converting. Through the first eight minutes of the final frame neither team got a shot off before Bluffton fired two late shots. Neither found the back of the net as the Beavers secured their first draw of the 2015 campaign.
The home team won the shot category by a slim 26-23 margin, 11-8 on frame. Manchester also committed three more fouls (14-11) for the contest. Bluffton keeper Matt Hardman-Zimmerman (Forest City, Penn.) finished the contest with nine saves, while Michael Ralph (Mansfield/Mansfield Christian) led the Beaver attack with five shots.
Bluffton finishes its three-match road swing on Saturday, Oct. 17, as they go back to Indiana to take on Franklin College at 8 p.m. Bluffton will return home on Wednesday, Oct. 21, for a matchup with the rival Defiance College Yellow Jackets. The opening kick is set for 3:30 p.m. Come support your Beavers!
-BEAVERS-
