By: Colton Stiener
ANGOLA, Ind. – The Bluffton University Beaver soccer squad hit the road to go up against the Trine University Thunder as they started a two-game roadtrip. Despite falling behind 3-1, the Beavers were able to fight back and score back-to-back goals within a minute of each other in the final 10 minutes and finish with a 3-3 tie to move to 1-2-1 on the season. The draw puts Trine at a record of 0-4-1 overall.
Bluffton would strike first in the first half 29 minutes into the contest after Leonardo Campos (Santiago, Chile/Campbellsville University) would sneak a goal past the keeper off a feed from Brady Anderson (Dublin/Dublin Coffman) to put the Beavers up 1-0 early. Going into the half with a 1-0 lead, the Thunder would come out of the half and score in the 47th minute, evening up the game at one apiece. After a hard-fought half, the hosts would get in a groove and score two goals in the span of two minutes to go up 3-1 on the Beavers.
With less than eight minutes to play, reigning HCAC Player of the Week Alex Brown (Delaware/Buckeye Valley) would fire a strike into the high right corner of the net to cut the deficit down to one. Momentum would shift the Beavers way as only 53 seconds elapsed before Nick Meyer (Lewisburg/Tri-County North) scored the game-tying goal to even up the contest at 3-3. The second half excitement would stall as neither team would find the net the rest of the game on the way to a 3-3 draw.
Leading the Beavers with a goal and an assist was Alex Brown, who had three total shots in the contest, followed up by Nick Meyer and Leonardo Campos who each tallied a goal on Wednesday. Brady Anderson would add an assist with William Clark (Mount Blanchard/Riverdale) having two shots on goal. While Trine had the edge in total shots with a 16-13 advantage, Bluffton placed one more shot on goal with six while the Thunder had five. Zach Johnson (Middletown) netted three saves for the visitors.
The Beavers will continue their MIAA road trip at Alma on Saturday, Sept. 13, with a 4 p.m. start before coming home next Wednesday, Sept. 17, when they face off with Wilmington at 7 p.m. on Alumni Field.
