September 6, 2014

Grove City rolls past Hilbert, 5-1

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's soccer team responded from an early deficit to outshoot Hilbert 24-6 and earn a dominant 5-1 non-conference victory over the Hawks on Saturday afternoon at College Field.

Freshman midfielder Blake Baer (Bedford, Pa./Bedford) and sophomore defender Nich Leaman (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) each netted their first collegiate goals while sophomore Jonathan Mathes (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle), senior Jordan Carmichael (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) and senior Kyle Richert also found the back of the net in the win.

The Wolverines (2-1-1) found themselves in an early hole when Hilbert's Tyler Eister found his way into the right side of the box and found Anthony Pellicano's head for a goal inside the left post just over two minutes into the match.

Grove City responded quickly, however, as sophomore Stephen Betteridge received the ball deep in the box before dribbling and dropping a ball back to Baer, who finished inside the left post to even the score at 1-1 in the fifth minute.

Mathes would score what proved to be the game-winner in the 10th minute, taking a pass from senior Jonny Rothgeb (State College, Pa./Homeschooled) and bending a shot into the upper right corner of the goal to give the Wolverines a 2-1 advantage.

Carmichael extended Grove City's lead to 3-1 in the 40th minute on a great individual run, beating a lone defender into the left side of the box before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper inside the left post for his second goal of the season.

Richert would get in on the action just before halftime, as junior Seth Loew (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) collected a deflected ball off of a corner kick and dropped a pass back to Richert for a goal inside the left post in the 43rd minute.

The Wolverines held a commanding 16-3 advantage in total shots in the first half, including a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Slippery field conditions due to consistent rainfall would even play during the second half, but Grove City managed one final tally in the 88th minute when Leaman collected a ball that deflected out of a Wolverine corner kick and blasted a shot from 22 yards out to close the scoring at 5-1.

Junior Ben Weaver (York, Pa./Dallastown) earned the victory in goal, making two saves in just over 73 minutes of action while freshman Malcolm Blake (Moreland Hills, Ohio/Orange) played the final 16:25 in his first collegiate appearance.

Grove City returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Penn State Behrend in a 4 p.m. non-conference match.

Box Score

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