No. 2 Gannon (9-1)

Sixty minutes into Ashland’s match against second-ranked Gannon on Thursday night, it seemed like the Eagles were in control. The scoreboard read differently, with Gannon up 1-0.

Half an hour and three goals later, the scoreboard didn’t lie. AU was not only victorious, 3-1 over the Golden Knights, but also vindicated.

“I’m definitely very proud of the way we performed,” AU head coach Jon Freeman said. “We were due for it, to be quite honest.”

While sitting at 6-1-1 overall and 5-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference two weeks ago, Freeman decided to change formations. He opted for a more attacking 4-4-2 (four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards) as opposed to the 4-5-1 in which the Eagles played their first eight games of the season.

“We wanted to put more pressure on the other team going forward, and we were really focused on getting numbers forward,” Freeman said. “If you want to score goals, you have to do that.”

The new formation looked far from lethal against a talented Notre Dame College side last Sunday, but Freeman decided to stick to his guns against Gannon. It paid off. Big time.

The game opened up with the Knights looking the more dangerous side on several corner kicks that forced junior goalkeeper Justin Nolan to make some acrobatic saves.

The Eagles settled down and play began to even out for most of the first half.

Just as it seemed Ashland was beginning to seize control, however, Gannon’s Sean Pike struck against the run of play to take the lead four minutes before halftime.

Pike’s shot from a few yards outside the penalty area on the left side floated over the head of Nolan and into the top right corner.

The Eagles did not hang their heads coming out of the break, and continued to take the game to the Golden Knights.

Sophomore forward Adam Mitchell had the first real scoring opportunity of the second period in the 57th minute.

He got the ball in behind Gannon’s defense and tried to direct a shot towards the top right corner, but it sailed just over.

Four minutes later, Mitchell sent a corner kick into the box that found the feet of graduate student Keiichi Nguyen, who nudged it to graduate student Guilherme Karaoglan.

Guilherme slotted a shot low past Gannon goalkeeper Jason Barbarino to level the score.

It was the AU forward’s first goal of the season.

“I think it was about time to score a goal,” he said.

Guilherme’s goal was the start of a 30-minute onslaught for the Eagles.

In the 65th minute, freshman forward Eric Ashley gave AU the lead with a wonderful strike from almost the same spot as Pike’s goal in the first half.

Ashley received a pass from Nguyen and dribbled down the left wing. Before reaching the corner, he cut the ball inside onto his right foot and unleashed a screamer that found the top right corner.

“I don’t think there was a goalkeeper in the world that could have saved that shot,” Freeman said.

Nguyen was awarded the assist, his second of the game. His third came in the 73rd minute, when he played a ball over top of the defense that landed just inside the penalty area.

Senior midfielder Andrew Over ran onto the bouncing ball and hit it out of the air on his first touch. It found the bottom right corner of the net.

AU had several chances in the last 15 minutes to widen the two-goal lead even more.

In the 76th minute, Guilherme and Mitchell had back-to-back shots inside the penalty area saved by Barbarino.

With less than two minutes left, Mitchell’s shot from the right wing rolled just wide of the right post.

Ashland finished with 19 shots, eight of which were on goal. The Golden Knights had 14 total shots and only four were on target.

In the second half, the Eagles fired 13 total shots compared to just four for Gannon.

The offensive firepower was a result of the team’s commitment to the new formation.

“I think in previous games we weren’t really supporting the srikers or the wingers, so we worked on that in training,” Nguyen said. “…Something just clicked and we played really well up there.”

Though it came against a nonconference opponent, the win was huge for both national and regional recognition. It was also big for the team’s confidence.

“They’re a good team and so are we,” Ashley said. “We wanted to prove ourselves.”

Walsh (3-8, 3-6)

After its best offensive performance against Gannon, Ashland had its worst defensive performance when it traveled to Walsh on Sunday.

The Eagles let in four first-half goals on the way to a 5-3 loss to the Cavaliers.

Walsh scored on four set pieces, a cause for concern for a normally sure-footed defensive group headlined by junior goalkeeper Justin Nolan.

The Cavaliers got off to a fast start in the ninth minute, when Chad Dickerhoof scored on an assist from Darby Melville.

Twelve minutes later, Broc Sutek scored to make it 2-0 off of a midfield pass from Adam Greenwood.

It was 3-0 just 31 minutes in when Dickerhoof’s free kick was knocked in by Chris Lynch.

Nguyen pulled a goal back four minutes later from close range on an assist from Mitchell, but the Eagles conceded again when Jordan Semple chipped a shot over Nolan’s head.

Ashland came out on the offensive in the second half, firing 22 shots after the break. For the game, AU outshot Walsh 28-15.

Unfortunately, Lynch found the goal again in the 63rd minute to sink any potential comeback.

Ashley assisted on junior midfielder/forward Zaan Janse’s first goal of the season in the 82nd minute and sophomore defender Max Rhoda scored his first goal of the season in the 87th minute.

Ashland heads on the road Friday to take on Ohio Dominican (6-4-1, 5-3) before returning home to face Saginaw Valley State (8-2-2, 5-2-2). The Eagles will try to avenge a Sept. 16 loss to the Cardinals, who currently lead the GLIAC North by two points (17-15) over AU.