Wall, Shadoan Lift Ohio Wesleyan Over Wheaton
DELAWARE, OHIO -- Senior forward Travis Wall and sophomore midfielder Matt Shadoan contributed a goal and an assist apiece to help 13th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan defeat 10th-ranked Wheaton (Ill.) in the first round of the adidas® Invitational on Friday at Roy Rike Field.
In Friday's opener, Capital upset 23rd-ranked Carnegie Mellon, 1-0.
Saturday's second round will open with Capital against Wheaton at 5 p.m., to be followed by Carnegie Mellon against Ohio Wesleyan at 7:30 p.m.
Ohio Wesleyan took the lead in the 14th minute when sophomore midfielder Jon Stegner ran the ball in along the right end line and centered it to Wall, who ripped a shot from the center of penalty area.
Both teams had excellent chances to score later in the half.
In the 28th minute, Wheaton's Josh Clark squeezed off a shot that glanced off a Bishop defender, forcing Bishop goalkeeper Paul Hendricks to make a difficult save on the deflection.
It appeared as though Ohio Wesleyan was going to take a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minute when sophomore forward Joe Beshara saw his shot get through Thunder goalkeeper Ryan Seager and roll toward the goal line, but a Wheaton defender flew in from the right side and cleared the ball off the line.
Stegner and senior forward Matt Bonfini ran a nifty give-and-go early in the second half, with Seager coming up with the save to keep the game at 1-0.
The Bishops added to the lead in the 58th minute when Shadoan launched a corner kick into the box. Junior defender Kit North headed the ball toward the middle of the Crusader goal, and sophomore midfielder Paolo Bucci finished off the play for a 2-0 Ohio Wesleyan lead.
Wheaton answered with a goal off a corner kick less than 3 minutes later. Clark tapped a short corner to Cory Weaver, who returned the ball to Clark in the corner. Clark then arched the ball into the penalty area, where Drew Golz headed it home to make it a 2-1 game.
Ohio Wesleyan added some insurance in the 87th minute when Wall centered the ball from the right side to to Shadoan in the middle of the field, and Shadoan converted the shot for the 3-1 final.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Wheaton, 24-11. Hendricks finished with 2 saves, while Seager recorded 4 saves in the Thunder goal.
