Four-Goal Opening Stanza Leads Spartans to 6-1 Victory Versus Westminster
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Case Western Reserve University men's soccer team tied a season-high with six goals, including a goal and two assists each from All-American senior forward Vinny Bell (Parma Heights, Ohio/Valley Forge) and freshman forward Patrick O'Day (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) en route to racing past home-standing Westminster University (Pa.) by a 6-1 score on Saturday afternoon. The five-goal victory marks the final non-conference match for the Spartans.
Case Western Reserve, 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the University Athletic Association, returns to action with a pair of key conference road matches next weekend starting at the University of Chicago (Ill.) on Friday, October 28, at 3:00 p.m. (CDT).
As a team entering Saturday's match, the Spartans were averaging just under three goals per contest. It didn't take long for Case Western Reserve to get the high-scoring offense in motion as senior midfielder Kyle Alsup (Avon, Ohio/Detroit Country Day, Mich.) scored on a penalty kick in the fourth minute. The goal marked the first penalty kick conversion for the Spartans this season as well as the first score this fall and fifth of his career for the fourth-year Spartan.
Case increased its lead to 2-0 just over 11 minutes later when junior forward Eric Erb (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) scored his seventh goal of the season on an assist by Bell. The visitors then bumped that lead to 3-0 in the 30th minute when Bell notched his UAA-leading 18th goal via assists from sophomore midfielder Dominic Carusone (Kettering, Ohio/Dayton Carroll) and O'Day. Not done yet, junior midfielder Rene Silva (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) tallied the Spartans fourth goal of the opening stanza in the 37th minute following a throw-in by junior defender Sam Kuehnle (Toledo, Ohio/Ottawa Hills).
The score remained that way through the halftime break and opening minutes of the second half until Westminster got on the board in the 69th minute when Anthony Humes scored on an assist from Michael Dever.
The Spartans made it 5-1 in the 76th minute when O'Day tallied the 10th goal of his freshman season on a helper by Bell. Just four minutes later, the final goal of the match for Case came from freshman defender Ryan Meyer (Lebanon, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick). The first-year Spartan recorded his first collegiate score in the 80th minute on the first career assist by classmate Ryan Finstad (Rochester, Mich./Rochester Stoney Creek) and O'Day's seventh.
In net, Spartan senior goalkeeper Ben Yabrow (Marietta, Ga./George Walton Comprehensive) started and played the opening 45:00 between the pipes and collected a save to earn the win before being relieved by junior Ryan Koepka (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township). Koepka started the second half, logging 29:09 before freshman Jay Darby (Flower Mound, Texas/Argyle) tallied two saves in the final 15:51 of action.
Westminster's Adam Kephart played the opening 45 minutes and made two saves, while Joe Bonish played the final 45:00 racking up five saves.
Case outshot Westminster by a 15-9 count on the afternoon, but Westminster managed five corners compared to four for the Spartans.
