By Phillipe Chauveau
Transcript Reporter
The Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team stepped onto Roy Rike maintained their perfect record twice this weekend with wins over the Heidelberg University Student Princes and the Berry University Vikings.
Senior forward Taylor Rieger was active early in Friday night’s game against Heidelberg with two shots in the opening minutes and another with 28 minutes left in the half.
Rieger scored on his fourth shot, from inside the six-yard box with an assist from senior midfielder Paolo Bucci with 24 minutes left in the first half.
After the goal, the Bishops maintained possession. From the 20th minute to the eighth, there were a total of four OWU corner kicks and five shots. But with six minutes to go in the half, the Princes tied the game 1-1.
The Bishops answered Heidelberg’s equalizer less than five minutes later. With 31 seconds left in the half, sophomore forward Evan Lee scored off an assist from junior midfielder Colton Bloecher, who faked out two defenders before feeding Lee in the box for the goal.
The second half started with the teams trying to keep the ball moving as much as possible. OWU handled the ball early and created a number of opportunities to score. Senior midfielders John Stegner and Matt Shadoan both had shots blocked by Heidelberg’s goalie, while Rieger had another shot go wide.
With 29 minutes on the clock, Heidelberg’s sophomore forward Kurt Wilhelm was playing into the box, but junior goalkeeper Colin Beemiller got there first. Wilhelm kicked Beemiller in the face, which earned him the first yellow card of the game.
With three minutes to go, the Princes scored their second goal, tying the game 2-2 and sending the contest into overtime.
The first half of overtime saw more fast-paced play, with the Heidelberg defense blocking four of the six shots taken by OWU.
A minute and 50 seconds into the second half, Stegner scored off a Bloecher assist, leading the Bishops to victory and improving their record to 6-0.
On Sunday afternoon, the Bishops defeated the Berry University Vikings 2-1, keeping the undefeated record, now at 7-0, intact.
OWU started strong with six shots in the first ten minutes. Senior midfielder Martin Tobias attempted a penalty kick, but Berry sophomore goalkeeper Logan Hill made the save.
With four minutes left in the first half, Berry got a corner kick. After a partial clearance from the defense, senior midfielder Matt Seib hit a volley into the bottom corner of junior goalie Colin Beemiller’s net. Despite outshooting Berry by 6, OWU was down by one at the half.
Six minutes into the second half, Bucci made a shot from 30-yards out, tying the game 1-1.
The Vikings were doing what they could to maintain the tie. With 20 minutes left Berry started fouling OWU players, and the referee showed a yellow card to Berry’s freshman midfielder Christian Zapata for excessive fouls. Near the end of the half, junior midfielder Zak Wallingford got into an argument with Bucci. Both received yellow cards.
Overtime was approaching, but Bloecher connected with a goal from about 25 yards out, giving OWU the lead with four minutes left on the clock. The Bishops held on for the 2-1 victory.