This was not the opening weekend the Wooster men’s soccer team was hoping for. Coming off the first season in nearly a decade in which the Fighting Scots were unable to finish the year with a winning record, Friday’s and Sunday’s games versus Aurora and Heidelberg were supposed to be the first steps in the direction of vindication.
Unfortunately, the final scores of both these non-conference matches indictated anything but a sense of redemption.
Last Friday night’s game versus Aurora was a back-and-forth battle between the Scots and the Illinois- based Spartans, that would take more than the 90 minutes of regulation time before a winner was declared.
Aurora dominated the first half of the match, with senior forward Chase Corricelli putting in two goals for the Spartan’s in the first 45 minutes of play. Down 2-0, the Scots fought back in the second half, with forward Scott Buckwald ’10 scoring two goals, one of which was assisted by forward Brenton Allen ’09. The scoring barrage brought by the Scots in this half, along with a strong defensive effort, was enough to send the season opener into overtime.
It was not long into the extra period, though, before Aurora rebounded against Wooster’s second half offensive surge. Forward Jim Kelly headed in the game-winning goal a mere six minutes into the overtime.
Looking to bounce from Friday night’s heartbreaking loss, the Scots took the field on Sunday afternoon against the Ohio-based Heidelberg University Student Princes, who also lost the opening match of their season opening 3-1 against host Oberlin College.
Right out of the gates, it looked as if Wooster had been able to put their previous loss behind them, with forward Karl Ruter ’10 scoring off a deep pass from forward Nick Waychoff ’09, only a measly 10 minutes into Sunday’s contest.
It did not take long, though, for the tide of the game to change heavily in favor of the opposing Student Princes. Thirty-three minutes into the opening half Heidelberg midfielder Billy Banks crossed the ball to fellow middie Brian Juart, to who headed in for the Student Princes first goal of the match.
Two minutes later, Heidelberg forward Dillard Anu broke the 1-1 tie with an unassisted goal. The Student Princes’ offensive onslaught was not yet complete ‚Ä” a minute and a half after the goal by Anu, Heidelberg able to kick in its third goal of the half.
The Scot defense was able to put a stop to the Student Princes’ scoring blitzkrieg in the second half, but the offense was not able to rally against the two-goal deficit, being held scoreless for the remaining 45 minutes of the game.
Losing their first is most definitely not the way the Fighting Scots planned to begin their 2008 season, but the season has just begun.
The Scots hosted their first game of the year against the Marietta College Pioneers on Sept. 3 and tied 1-1 against the Pioneers.
The game was a rematch of last year’s intense match between the two schools in which Wooster came away with a 2-1 victory on the Pioneers’ home field in a tought fought match against a decent opponent.
Today the Wooster Fighting Scots men’s soccer team will take on the Defiance College Yellow Jackets at 3:30 p.m.