Box Score Ohio Wesleyan 5, Ohio Northern 1Junior midfielder Brian Schaefer (Chatham, N.J.) put Ohio Wesleyan on the scoreboard just over 2 minutes into the game, and junior forward Evan Lee (Toledo/St. Johns) contributed a goal and an assist as 22nd-ranked Ohio Wesleyan built a 5-0 lead on the way to a non-conference win over 24th-ranked Ohio Northern on Wednesday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
Schaefer took advantage of the game's first scoring chance, fielding a crossing pass from senior midfielder Colton Bloecher (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) on the left side, beating a Polar Bear defender, and firing a shot from the right side just 2:06 into the action.
Ohio Northern's Keegan Ross had a look at tying the game in the sixth minute, but his shot off a Matt Kinkopf centering pass was saved by senior Colin Beemiller (Pickerington/North).
Polar Bear keeper Dean McNeil made a couple of saves to keep the visitors within 1-0, both times after Bishop corner kicks. Senior back Drew Pang (Dublin/Coffman) saw his header saved in the 13th minute, and in the 21st minute, Lee's header off a corner kick glanced off Pang and to McNeil for the save.
Schaefer nearly had his second goal of the game with a run and shot in the 30th minute, but McNeil made the save, and Lee's follow shot off the rebound also was stopped by the ONU netminder.
Bloecher and Lee combined to increase the Bishop lead to 2-0 as Lee centered the ball to Bloecher, whose shot found the back of the net in the 60th minute.
Less than a minute later, sophomore midfielder Nick Norman (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) won the ball in the defensive end after a blocked clearance attempt, dribbled in, and fired a shot past McNeil for a 3-0 Bishop lead.
Lee tallied an unassisted goal to make it 4-0 in the 86th minute, and freshman forward Jeremy Brown (Xenia) wrapped up the Bishop scoring with a goal in the 88th minute, trapping a pass from sophomore forward Kyle Baum (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), turning and firing a shot.
Ohio Northern averted the shutout with a goal with 1:20 left in regulation time, when Patrick Sabol pounced on a loose ball in the box after a Polar Bear corner kick.
"This was a very good night," said Ohio Wesleyan head coach Jay Martin. "We got good efforts out of everybody. We finally started playing together. We put in some freshmen -- (Trey) Olsen and (Pat) Miller -- and they did great. We're starting to get our depth back, and that's just what we needed. We're hoping this will jump-start us and we can move forward and continue to play at this high level."
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Ohio Northern, 21-16. Beemiller and sophomore Ben Farynowski (Columbus/Grandview Heights) combined for 7 saves for Ohio Wesleyan, while McNeil recorded 7 shots for the Polar Bears.
Box Score
