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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Jaden Wright home game photo
Jose Figueroa
Jaden Wright tallied two goals in the conquest of Ohio Wesleyan.
3
Winner John Carroll JCUM (5-0-1)
1
Ohio Wesleyan OWUM (3-2-1)
Winner
John Carroll JCUM
(5-0-1)
3
Final
1
Ohio Wesleyan OWUM
(3-2-1)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCUM 1 2 3
Ohio Wesleyan OWUM 0 1 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Gianluca DiGiacomo, Staff Writer

Men's Soccer Bests Battling Bishops to Remain Unbeaten

DELAWARE, Ohio -- Tonight, the John Carroll Blue Streaks traveled down to Central Ohio to take on a familiar foe in the Battling Bishops from Ohio Wesleyan University. Wenzler Warrior's would come into this game with a great desire for the face of goal coming off of a scoreless draw against Case Western Reserve University.

A relatively even series between these two squads, before this win, Ohio Wesleyan took seven victories compared to John Carroll's six. This Battling Bishops team was looking to continue their conquest over OAC teams following a tight 1-0 victory over Ohio Northern, also seeking revenge over John Carroll after the Blue Streaks took them down in University Heights 2-0 last season, courtesy of two goals in 60 seconds from Jack Foht late in the first half.

The Blue Streaks quenched their thirst for goals tonight, as JCU defeated Ohio Wesleyan 3-1 to continue an undefeated stint thus far.

A cold night in Delaware, Ohio gave this game that unique Midwest autumn feel. The Blue Streaks traveled just under two hours to the Jay Martin Soccer Complex, rightfully named after the Bishops' longtime coach, Jay Martin.

Martin has been the head of the men's soccer program for a whopping 46 years, and has shown incredible levels of leadership, class, and evidently, results. Coach Martin has accumulated an impressive 752 wins, 26 NCAC conference championships, 12 regional championships, and two national championship runner-ups in 1998 and 2011. His winning percentage of 0.799 ranks him 14th in NCAA history across any sport; he is the winningest soccer coach across men's and women's and all three divisions of the NCAA, and is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history across any division and sport, recording an additional 104-34 record as a lacrosse coach.

With all of this in mind, both teams took the pitch and were prepared to put on a clinic as the official blew the opening whistle to kick off the evening. The opening minutes were even, both teams ravenous to set the tone for a battle rooted in history, energy, and devotion.

Both teams felt each other out in the opening minutes, with Ohio Wesleyan coming away unscathed from some dangerous opportunities courtesy of some class saves from Marysville native Mason Taylor.

Within just nine minutes, the Blue Streaks earned themselves a corner. Logan Penton whipped one in from the right hand side into a packed 10 yards stacked with bodies from both sides. Many tried, but the ball made contact with the head of Jaden Wright, sending it to the left hand side of the goal. The slightest caress off of the head of the defender kept the keeper stranded in place as the ball bounced across the line for an early Blue Streak lead.

With an early lead, John Carroll began to find their footing in the momentum department, but Ohio Wesleyan was certainly not going down without a fight. The Battling Bishops continued pushing along and began picking up some steam offensively. Although their progression was calculated and well-coordinated, they could not find an end product, as those last strides towards the promised land would be thwarted by last-ditch defending or the Blue Streak goalkeeper Brenden Moher.

John Carroll began to pull some chances back in their favor, getting a handful of close calls with a few more chances, with Mason Taylor coming up big on a few more occasions and a brilliant goal line clearance from Brady West with about 18 minutes left to play in the first half.

Despite glimpses of brilliance on both sides of the ball, the scoreboard stayed stagnant and John Carroll held a 1-0 lead going into the half.

Coming out of the gate in the second half, the Blue Streaks were right back to their ways on the offensive end. Some great buildup play moving forward resulted with the ball on the foot of Jack Foht. Flashbacks of the year prior flooded the minds of the masses as Foht would put a low grounded shot across the face of goal. Foht's shot would not quite end up on target, but it didn't matter, as Jaden Wright came flying towards goal to tap it in on the weak side. Blue Streaks 2, Battling Bishops 0.

The hands of time would only move faster for Ohio Wesleyan, as things got chippy between the two sides and tensions began to flair, a seemingly apparent trait of John Carroll matches so far this season.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Blue Streaks would have a greatly convincing attack. Some great one-touch passing on the right hand side of the pitch led to a ball being played into the center of the box. As the ball was played right behind the masses, Patrick Koenig managed to pull his body weight back, and wind up for a nice half-volley. The ball flew off of Koenig's boot like a military-grade rocket, but OWU's Taylor again came up huge and made an absolutely tremendous stop. It is safe to say Taylor's hands were kissed by God tonight, and it had me questioning my own faith. I can confidently say this was the best save I have ever seen in real, live time. Certainly one for the keeper's highlight reel as he has earned his flowers tonight.

The Blue Streaks finished their scoring night with one more tally on the score sheet with a ball played over to the left for Hayden Haffner. With some solid hold up play, Haffner created the space to cut to the center and hit a wonderful shot with a slight touch of finesse into the bottom right corner to make it 3-0.

The Battling Bishops finally got on the scoreboard in the 85th minute, though, as off of a corner kick on the left hand side, sophomore captain Gabe O'Reilly received a powerful hit off of the corner at the top left corner of the 18-yard box, and had a crack into the left hand side of the net, leaving Moher immobilized for a more positive note to end on for the home team.

After an eventful night, John Carroll took care of business and nurtured its undefeated record, moving to 5-0-1 on the season, while Ohio Wesleyan would fall to 3-2-1. A big night for Wenzler's Warriors, as another huge result on the road gives them a full head of steam moving into an important game back at home on Wednesday night.

The Blue Streaks will be back at Don Shula Stadium on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. to take on #16 ranked Denison University. Coverage will be on jcusports.com and OAC TV!
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