Men’s soccer team loses to #11/#20 DePauw, 4-2

GREENCASTLE, Ind. – The Olivet College men's soccer team fell to DePauw (Ind.) University, 4-2, in a non-conference game at Boswell Field in Greencastle, Indiana. The Tigers entered the game ranked No. 11 in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll and No. 20 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll.

The Comets were forced to play a man down only six minutes into the game when sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Grashik (New Baltimore/Anchor Bay) was issued a red card. "Deservedly so Ryan got sent off," said Head Coach Dan Bulley. "That left us playing with 10 guys for the majority of the match. The play leading up to the incident appeared to be quite clearly offside. Unfortunately this decision shaped the rest of the game for us."

DePauw broke through with its first goal midway through the first half. That goal would be the only one in the first 45 minutes of play.

Olivet scored the equalizer only five minutes and 10 seconds into the second half. Senior Adam Wright (Southend, England/Walled Lake Western) crossed the ball into the box and junior Jon Puente (Kalamazoo/Galesburg Augusta) headed the ball into the net.

The Tigers then scored three straight goals in a span of only five minutes. Three different players scored and another three players were each given an assist.

The Comets scored their last goal with only 33 seconds remaining in the game when senior Connor Plagens (South Lyon) knocked the ball into the goal. Junior John Leutzinger (Washington Twp./Warren De La Salle) and sophomore Michael Moscone (Washington Twp./Warren De La Salle) each received an assist on the goal.

"Jon and Connor were on target after some fantastic deliveries in the box," said Bulley. "Nobody has put two goals past DePauw this season, so we have some positives coming out of this game. We created a couple of other fine chances which the goalkeeper made some tremendous saves to keep them in the game."

The Tigers doubled-up Olivet in total shots, 12-6, while having an 8-5 edge in shots-on-goal. Puente and Wright each took two shots. Junior Alex Lang (West Bloomfield/Detroit Catholic Central) came into the game to replace Grashik, and made four saves.

"Overall, I am so proud of the effort the lads put into this game," said Bulley. "You also have to give credit to DePauw, as they were solid across the park today and were fantastic going forward. To come away with a result like this against what will now likely be a top 10 ranked team and put in a performance packed with desire and a never say die attitude speaks volumes for the young men on our team."

The Comets will resume their Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association schedule on Wednesday afternoon when they host Kalamazoo College at 4 p.m.

"Today's game concludes a very tough non-conference part of our schedule," said Bulley. "All of our focus must now be on conference play."