The men’s soccer team came into last weekend needing one win to earn their third straight regular season GLIAC championship. They got what they needed but not before suffering a small setback. The weekend featured two games: Tiffin Friday night and Findlay Sunday afternoon. The Eagles won one game and lost the other, scoring seven goals and conceding twice. Senior Adam Spannbauer led all Ashland scorers with three goals.

Tiffin

Tiffin came into Ashland last Friday evening with a chip on their shoulders. Earlier in the season, the Eagles traveled to Tiffin and took home a 2-1 victory in overtime after James Livingston scored on a rebound off of his own penalty kick. The Dragons and Eagles have become rivals the past few seasons, as their close proximity and recent success in the GLIAC conference have provided for some epic battles (coming into Friday night’s game, the all-time series was tied at 8-8-1).

Friday’s game was no different, as both teams went hard from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. Tiffin would come away with a 2-1 victory in a game that had the spectators on the edge of their seats.

Ashland opened the scoring in the contest, getting another gem from goal-scoring machine Louis Clark. In the 22nd minute, Clark received a well-placed high through ball from senior Kelly Desmond around the top of the 18-yard box. Clark then took a touch to the right to avoid Tiffin’s goalkeeper that left him near the end line. After “juking” one of Tiffin’s defenders, Clark struck a perfectly placed shot with the outside of his right foot that hit the side netting just inches inside the left post.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Tiffin forward Ashton Campbell found a beauty of his own in the 29th minute. The shot, fired from 18 yards, found the top right corner of the net to even the score. The goal was Campbell’s 14th of the season, which put him one goal ahead of Louis Clark.

The score remained tied until the 71st minute, when Edison Benda headed in a cross from the left side for the game winner.

“It was a great game to watch,” Coach Jon Freeman said. “It was frustrating being on the losing end after playing our hearts out and all of the credit’s got to go to Tiffin. Two quality teams came together tonight, and they did enough to get the victory.”

Findlay

The Findlay Oilers came into town Sunday afternoon knowing that they would face an uphill battle if they wanted to beat Ashland, as the Eagles crushed the Oilers 5-2 earlier in the season. Taking advantage of home field and the emotions of senior night, the Eagles were able to win Sunday’s game even more handily, drubbing Findlay 6-0.

David Jameyson started the scoring for the Eagles in the 23rd minute, the first of a barrage of four Eagle goals before halftime. The highlight of the night came in the 29th minute, when Kenny Hewitt crossed the ball to Spannbauer, who finished with a rare diving header from six yards. Andrew Iden then added his fourth goal of the season before Spannbauer closed out the half with another goal to push Ashland’s lead to 4-0 at the break.

Spannbauer wasn’t done yet, scoring once more in the 65th minute before freshman Alex Johnson put a cap on the game with under four minutes to go. Johnson’s goal came off of a turnover by Findlay’s goalkeeper.

The afternoon couldn’t have been sweeter for Spannbauer. The hat trick was the third of his career and moved him to fifth on the all-time scoring list at Ashland. He now has 23 goals in his career. The performance also earned him the award of GLIAC Men’s Soccer Athlete of the Week. This marks the third week in a row that an Eagle has received the award. First it was Clark, then goalkeeper Justin Nolan. Winning the award each of the last three weeks of the regular season is a good sign for the team as they head towards the post season.

Ashland finished the regular season with a record of 12-4-2 and 9-1-2 in the conference. With that record, they have earned the right to host the GLIAC Tournament this weekend at Ferguson Field. The tournament will start Thursday at 5:00 p.m. with a game between Tiffin and Ohio Dominican. That game will be followed by a showdown between Ashland and Northwood in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. The GLIAC Championship will be held Saturday at 6:00 p.m.