Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 2, St. Olaf 1
Sophomore forward Christopher Guerra (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) scored the game-winning goal as 24th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan downed 14th-ranked St. Olaf in a first-round matchup of the Fred Myers/adidas® Invitational, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan on Friday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
Ohio Wesleyan will host Hanover at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the tournament's second round. In the other second-round game, Kenyon will host St. Olaf on Sunday.
The Bishops took the lead just over 90 seconds into the game. Junior forward Franklin Rodriguez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Berkshire (Mass.)) played the ball ahead to Guerra, who sent the ball across the goal mouth to junior midfielder Landon Kuhn (Lewis Center/Olentangy Berlin), who finished the chance in front for a 1-0 Bishop lead.
Ohio Wesleyan had a chance to increase the margin to 2-0 midway through the first half when Ole defender Ian Elliott was assessed a red card for fouling sophomore forward Rowan Kriebel (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) from behind. Ohio Wesleyan was awarded a free kick from just outside the penalty area, but Kuhn's drive skipped outside the left post.
St. Olaf evened the game in the 57th minute after a foul was called on Ohio Wesleyan. Hakeem Morgan lined up for the free kick about 23 yards out and slipped the ball inside the left post.
Kriebel had a look at the go-ahead goal in the 78th minute, jumping on a loose ball and winding up for a shot only to see Ole goalkeeper Peter Forseth leave his line to block the drive.
The Bishops broke the tie with a transition goal. Senior goalkeeper Mason Taylor (Marysville) stopped a shot by Casey McCloskey and made a long outlet pass up the right side to junior back Justin Carro (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills). Carro made a run and sent the ball ahead to senior forward Jaggar Brooker (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), and Brooker centered the ball to Guerra, who redirected it into the goal with 6:07 remaining in regulation time.
"For the first 30 minutes, we were unbelievable," said Bishop head coach Jay Martin, "but when they got the red card, their motivation went up and our motivation went down. I do like the way we can back -- it took us a while, but we finally started getting a hold of the ball in the second half and we scored. Chris (Guerra) played well, and Jaggar (Brooker) played well."0
Ohio Wesleyan outshot St. Olaf, 14-11. Taylor finished with 4 saves. The win was the 750th career victory for Martin, who is the winningest men's soccer coach in NCAA history.
The Fred Myers Invitational has been one of the featured events on the Battling Bishops' schedule for more than 40 seasons. It honors the memory of Fred Myers, the self-styled "grandfather" of Ohio soccer coaches who died of a heart attack in 1977, two weeks shy of his 51st birthday. Myers took over the 2-year-old Ohio Wesleyan soccer program in 1957. His 20 teams went on to fashion a .608 winning percentage and earn 8 trips to the NCAA playoffs. Two squads stood out: the 1963 team, which won the Mideast Region College Division championship, then the highest level of NCAA play; and the 1975 team, which finished third nationally, then Ohio Wesleyan's best finish ever. In 8 years of Ohio Athletic Conference competition, Myers' squads won 4 championships and twice finished in second place. Myers was named Ohio Coach of the Year in 1971 and 1973.
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