ASHLAND, Ohio – Coming off a pair of bludgeoning defeats, the AU men's soccer squad needed a pick-me-up. That's exactly what the Eagles got on Wednesday (Sept. 28) afternoon in a 6-0 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene at Ferguson Field.
The Eagles came off a six-game road trip and have not played at Ferguson Field since a Sept. 3 win over Drury. The Eagles were welcomed back to Ashland with a cold, steady mist that hung over the field for much of the game. The Eagles' mood after the game was nothing but cold, however.
"We've been coming out strong in the last two practices and it showed today," said sophomore sweeper Jamie Dollar (Perrysburg, Ohio). "We're getting stronger and stronger."
The Eagles were beaten by regional foe No. 6 Northern Kentucky on Sept. 19, 3-2, and then lost to NAIA No. 3 Notre Dame (Ohio), 6-1, in Lyndhurst, Ohio.
"The team had a rough couple of games," said Ashland head coach Jon Freeman. "We never really recovered (from the NKU loss). We had to show up today and we did."
No. 13 Ashland (6-2, 4-0 GLIAC) scored three times in each half and put the game away with solid defense on the back line.
The six goals are the most the Eagles have scored since a 7-2 rout of Ohio Dominican on October 8, 2005.
"It was nice to get a team down and not let them get back up," Freeman said.
Freshman forward Louis Clark (Brighton, England/Hove Park) opened the scoring at the 12:01 mark, heading in a deflected shot by senior midfielder Adam Spannbauer (Akron, Ohio/Firestone) from six yards out. It was Spannbauer's third assist of the season.
At the 15:00 mark, junior wing Kenny Hewitt (Brighton, England/Edgehill) drove home a direct kick from 20 yards, near the top of the penalty area, to give the Eagles an early 2-0 lead.
Ashland benefited from some good fortune in the 39th minute as Hewitt's cross was knocked in by a Mount Vernon defender, giving AU a 3-0 lead at the intermission.
Ashland struggled to keep possession early in the second half as the Cougars mounted a few offensive threats. The Eagles, though, pounced on MVNU's eagerness up top and found the back of the net in the 61st minute when Clark slid in his second goal of the game off a pass from Hewitt. The goal was Clark's team-leading sixth of the season.
"We had individual meetings this week and in the talk with Louis, I told him, 'we need you to do more.' He nodded and said, 'I can do more,'" Freeman said. "And that's what he did."
Junior forward Andrew Iden (Marysville, Ohio) scored the last two goals of the game in the 72nd and 79th minutes. On the first goal, Iden shook his defender after a feed from Hewitt and scored off the keeper's hand. Sophomore midfielder Danny Lusheck (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) had a terrific assist on the second goal, feeding the ball to Iden as he was upended by a Mount Vernon defender about six yards from the goal.
The Ashland defense and goalkeepers kept a clean sheet for the fourth time in eight games this season.
Sophomore keeper Justin Nolan (Medina, Ohio/Highland) made just one save and was replaced for the second half by sophomore Kurt Innes (Vermilion, Ohio), who made two saves in net.
Ashland held the advantage in shots, 19-10, while the Cougars had seven corner kicks to Ashland's five.
Mount Vernon keeper Tyson Porter made seven saves in the first half and was relieved in the second half by Ryan Swartzentruber.
The Eagles now have a weekend GLIAC slate at Ferguson Field where they will play Northwood at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 1) and then Saginaw Valley State at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 3).
"We have to continue with this tempo we had tonight," said Dollar.
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