Transy men knock off No. 3 Ohio Northern
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Transylvania used a suffocating defense and a timely offense to shut out No. 3 Ohio Northern 3-0 Saturday in men's soccer action at Thomas Field.
The Pioneers improved to 2-3-1 on the year while the Polar Bears, who were tied by Wittenberg in their last outing, lost for the first time to move to 6-1-1. Ohio Northern was ranked No. 3 nationally in the latest coaches association poll and No. 1 in the Great Lakes region.
Ohio Northern had 11 shots to nine for the Pioneers with nine of those coming in the second half for the visitors. Transy keeper Alex Schmitt (Ft. Mitchell, Ky., Villa Madonna) got the win with six saves.
ONU also had a 9-2 edge in corner kicks, but it was Transy that got the victory.
"We knew we had a young team coming into the season," said Transy head coach Brandon Bowman. "We felt we had the talent to be good once we got some experience. This was a solid effort for us and I think we are moving in the right direction."
Transy scored first 12 minutes into the contest when Kyle Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio, LaSalle) took a cross fromChristian King (Nicholasville, Ky., East Jessamine) and found the lower left corner. The score remained 1-0 unitl Peter Mikhail (Park Hills, Ky., Covington Catholic) coverted a rebound at the 62:07 mark.
Ethan Collins (Lawrenceburg, Ky., Anderson Co.) got a goal with just 30 seconds left when he broke free and beat the ONU keeper from five yards out.
It was the third goal of the year for both Smith and Collins while Mikhail found the net for the first time.
Transy is back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Maryville for a 6 p.m. match with the Scots.
