At Ohio Dominican (7-4-1, 6-3-0)

The men’s soccer team got off to a sluggish start at Panther Field in Columbus and could not overcome it on the way to a 3-1 loss at Ohio Dominican on Friday night.

The Eagles conceded two goals within the first 30 minutes, starting with a goal in the 13th minute by ODU’s Drew Edler. Edler found himself open five yards out and received a pass from Frazer Fernandez, slotting it past Eagles junior goalkeeper Justin Nolan.

In the 27th minute, Ohio Dominican’s Justin Wheeler crossed a ball in from the left side that was headed in by a diving Colby Catlett from six yards.

Appeals were made for offside calls on both goals, but the linesman’s flag stayed down both times.

Ohio Dominican continued attack for the next several minutes of play, looking like it might score again before Ashland freshman forward Eric Ashley pulled a goal back for the Eagles in the 36th minute.

Ashley received the ball 30 yards from goal and cut around a defender, unleashing a powerful strike to the top right corner to make it 2-1.

Unfortunately, Ashland was unable to find an equalizer in the second half, which was dominated in possession by the Panthers.

Catlett scored his second goal in the 83rd minute when Jacob Szabo lofted a free kick from about 25 yards out over AU’s wall. Catlett got on the end of it and finished a shot from close range to put the game out of reach.

ODU outshot the Eagles 21-10 and held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Nolan made six saves for Ashland.

Saginaw Valley State (9-2-3, 6-2-2)

Ashland was on the wrong end of the score line again Sunday, falling 1-0 to Saginaw Valley State, who leads the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Division.

The Eagles fell to 7-5-1 overall and 5-5 in the conference. They currently sit in third place in the North.

After an uneventful first half saw both teams chase the ball around through large gusts of wind, the teams switched sides. That seemed to make all the difference.

Ashland, who held the wind in the first half, was disappointed to not have created many chances in the first period.

“We didn’t step out in the first half and do what we needed to do when we had the wind,” Freeman said. “We should have been a little bit more consistent going forward.”

With the wind at their backs, the Cardinals were able to grab the majority of the possession for the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Ashland got back into it over the next ten minutes of play. Senior midfielder Andrew Over and Ashley nearly played a give-and-go to perfection in the 66th minute, but Ashley’s half volley from the top of the box hit the crossbar.

Six minutes later, the Eagles went behind on a goal by SVSU’s Lachlan Savage off of a throw-in by Robert Short.

The goal was Savage’s sixth of the year, and it was the sixth goal in the last three matches the Eagles have conceded off of a set piece.

“It seems to be something that is a thorn in our side,” Freeman said. “It happened at Walsh and it happened today, and we’ve got to stop it.”

The Eagles had several chances to equalize in the last 18 minutes, but none of them found the back of the net.

In the 86th minute, Ashley sent in a cross from the right wing that resulted in a header by senior defender Mitch Deyhle that was saved by Cardinals goalkeeper Jason Wise.

Ashland freshman midfielder Brandon Lumsden had a chance at a tying goal with just seconds remaining, but his header went over the crossbar.

The loss was disappointing for the Eagles, who less than two weeks ago were in position to win the GLIAC. Now, they sit five points behind the Cardinals in the North and fifth overall in the conference.

“When you’re battling for a conference championship, you’ve got to win these,” Freeman said. “The boys know that, so this one hurts.”

The rough weekend also dropped Ashland out of the Midwest Region rankings, which decide who makes the NCAA tournament.

“The conference is still wide open,” Freeman said. “It’ll be harder to make the NCAAs now, and we’ve just gotta do what we’ve gotta do: take it one game at a time.”