The Ashland University men’s soccer team fell to the Tiffin University Dragons on the road in the semi-final round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Postseason Tournament.
The Eagles, who at one point in the contest led 2-1, were knocked out of the GMAC tournament by the Dragons in the second meeting this season between the two sides.
Heading into the outing between the two sides, memories flood back to the previous meeting between the Dragons and Eagles, way back on Oct. 11 at Ferguson Field.
When the two teams met back in October, the Dragons came out on top in a convincing 3-1 win. The only Eagle to score was ole’ reliable, forward Vander Rocha. The Dragons finished the outing, outshooting the Eagles 17-13 on the road, proving to be the better side.
With revenge on their mind, the Eagles headed into the semi-final round of the GMAC tournament in hopes of pushing their way to a second-straight conference championship.
To begin the first half of play, the Dragons came out swinging and in the 17th minute they would find the opening goal.
The goal would come from Dragon midfielder Caleb Gibbons as he cleanly slotted the ball past Eagle goalkeeper Ty Bowden into the bottom left corner of the goal, opening the contest up with a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles, following the opening goal, did not slow down the pressure they were creating and put the previous goal in the rearview mirror. Seven minutes later, in the 24th minute, the 5th-year senior leader Oliver Whaley would bring the game level.
From outside of the box, he stole the ball away from a Dragon midfielder, touched the ball forward once before drilling it into the bottom right corner of the goal. Dragon goalkeeper Felix Graf did not even attempt to make a save on the shot.
The remainder of the first half would see a back and forth battle with a majority of the action occurring in the midfield.
Going into the halftime break, the game sat level, 1-1. The Eagles outshot the Dragons, 9-3, while also recording just one more foul, 7-6. The first half showcased a variety of storylines, with the physicality and aggression being the main one. In the second half, that storyline would only grow even more with six yellow cards being given out.
To begin the final 45 minutes of action, the two teams came out swinging as in just the opening 15 minutes two yellow cards would be handed out to Dragon players. The first was addressed to defender Amara Kamara, with the second going to midfielder Kai Yamakazi.
However, in the 48th minute, the Eagles got what they were looking for: a go-ahead goal.
Once gain, just like the first half, Whaley would be the answer for the Eagles as he yet again found a shot that weaved its way past Graf to find the back netting, this time using his head.
After stealing the ball away from the Dragons in the left corner, defender Sergio Ruiz would send a beautiful ball back post to Whaley who would head the ball into the goal, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
With the game in control, the Eagles coasted up until the 70th minute where the Dragons would respond with a goal of their own, coming from midfielder Noah Purtz. His goal would knot the game up at two’s.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Dragons were not done pushing the pedal-to-the-medal by any means and knocked in three more goals through the last 20 minutes of game to pull off a massive 5-2 win.
The collapse from the Eagles was evident, as it took just eight total shots for the Dragons to score five goals on the day.
The loss pushes the Eagles out of the GMAC tournament in the semi-final round, with the team’s final record moving to 7-9-4 on the 2023-24 season.
They next look to the NCAA Division II Postseason Tournament, with hopes of securing a bottom-table spot.
