After a short break, the Ashland men’s soccer team got back into action in a big way this past weekend, facing conference foe Ohio Dominican Friday before turning right around for one of their biggest tests of the year against then-No. 6 Northern Kentucky. The Eagles beat ODU handily, but they suffered their first loss of the season Sunday in the NKU game.

Ohio Dominican

It took 29 minutes for Ashland to find the net Friday, as Kenny Hewitt got his second goal of the season to put the Eagles up 1-0. Hewitt found the ball at his feet following a deflected pass from Louis Clark. Hewitt was able to take a touch in the box and then fire the ball into the back of the net with his left foot.

The Eagles then put the game out of reach with a headed goal from Louis Clark on an assist from Adam Spannbauer. It was his third goal of the season despite only playing in four of the team’s games at this point.

“I was on the penalty spot [when] the ball came in from Kenny and I just tried to lose my man,” Clark said. “I knew the keeper was coming but I just got a little flick on it and it ended up in the back of the net.”

No. 6 Northern Kentucky

Ashland traveled south of Cincinnati Sunday afternoon to take on one of the premier soccer teams in the country, the NKU Norse. Ashland opened the scoring off of a free kick in the 26th minute of the game.

“We got a foul at the top of the 18, Tom [Rankin] crossed it in, it went through the middle and then Brian Ruhaak put it back through the middle on the ground,” sophomore defender Jami Dollar said. “I was able to put it off the post into the net.”

However, the Norse would respond with a goal before halftime to equalize. Mohammad Salhieh was able to slot home a well-worked goal for Northern Kentucky.

As the game neared the end, things got crazy. A flurry of goals in the 77th and 78th minutes would give one team a 3-2 lead that they would not surrender. Unfortunately for Ashland, that team was Northern Kentucky.Steven Beattie and Paul Andrews each scored goals for the Norse to gain a 3-1 advantage. Andrews’ goal was off of a free kick from midfield that should’ve been dealt with by the Eagles.

 However, Ashland showed a flash of brilliance later in the same minute of the game as Michael Kennedy hit Spannbauer on a through-ball over the top of the NKU defense. Spannbauer was able to beat the Norse goalkeeper to the ball, flicking it over his head and into the net to pull the game back to 3-2.

It wouldn’t be enough for the Eagles, though, as they fell to 5-1 on the season. Ashland dropped from 12th to 15th in the latest NCSAA/HendrickCars.com rankings and will now travel to Notre Dame College Wednesday before returning home to face Mount Vernon Nazarene Sept. 28.