Bell's Two Scores Lift Spartans Past Earlham
RICHMOND, Ind. – All-American senior forward Vinny Bell (Parma Heights, Ohio/Valley Forge) scored a pair of first-half goals helping the Case Western Reserve University men's soccer team improve to 2-0 on the young season with a 3-1 victory against host Earlham College on Sunday, September 4 at Matlack Field.
The Spartans will bring their unbeaten record back to Case Field next week with a pair of non-conference matches against Ohio Athletic Conference foes Muskingum University on Tuesday, September 6 at 7:30 p.m. and John Carroll University on Sunday, September 11 at 2:00 p.m. Last season, Case posted a 6-2-1 record at home.
With the loss, Earlham drops to 0-2 overall.
The Spartans got on the board in the ninth minute when Bell scored an unassisted goal. He tacked on his second score of the game just over 12 minutes later on an assist from classmate Niro Wimalasena (Mason, Ohio/Mason), giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Case moved its lead to 3-0 in the 56th minute when freshman forward Patrick O'Day (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) scored his second goal in as many matches with an assist from junior midfielder Kostis Theohardies (Brookline, Mass/Brookline).
The Quakers got on the scoreboard in the 78th minute with a goal from Tamru Taye.
In goal, Spartan senior Ben Yabrow (Marietta, Ga./George Walton Comprehensive) started the contest and improved to 2-0 for the year, while junior Ryan Koepka (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) notched one save during the second 45 minutes. Earlham's Sam Embry totaled five saves for the Quakers.
For the game, the Spartans outshot the Quakers by an 18-6 count, and also held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
