ASHLAND, Ohio – Hosting the No. 9 team in the country, in its first game at a dazzling facility, with a new head coach, the Ashland University men's soccer team was buzzing with energy from the start of its game on Friday (Sept. 3) night.
So was the crowd of 410 at Ferguson Field. The crowd saw the Eagles earn a hard-fought 1-0 defensive struggle against Drury.
Freshman midfielder Louis Clark (Brighton, England/Hove Park) delivered the only goal of the game in 34th minute, scoring off a deflected James Livingston (Aughton, England/University of Liverpool) shot in the box. The sequence started with Tom Rankin (Ormskirk, England) taking the first shot in the middle before Livingston got his foot on the blocked shot. After Livingston's shot came off the Drury player, Clark struck it from 10 yards into the left side of the net.
"Livingston did the work on it," Clark said. "It fell to me and I was just lucky to get it."
The Eagles did not need any luck to defend in the manner they did tonight. Ashland surrendered just four shots on the night, despite the Panthers controlling the ball for much of the second half.
Ashland's back line of junior Bryan McCausland (Barberton, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary), sophomore Jamie Dollar (Perrysburg, Ohio), senior Mike Kennedy (Liverpool, England/Ormskirk) and sophomore Danny Lusheck (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) was outstanding on the night. According to first-year head coach Jon Freeman, the Eagle defense did not allow the Panthers to win a header all game.
"That was probably the biggest factor in us winning the game," said Freeman. "Both teams fought hard defensively and we were able to come out with the win."
Ashland sophomore goalkeeper Justin Nolan (Medina, Ohio/Highland) stopped one shot in the win and came up with several plays to prevent crosses from getting deep into the box.
"We defended unbelievably tonight," Clark said. "If we defend like that all the time, we can go farther than last year."
The last two seasons, the Eagles have advanced to the NCAA playoffs, but lost in the first round both times.
Now with a ranked, in-region opponent out of the way, the Eagles leave their new confines for several weeks. Ashland's next home match is Sept. 28 against Mount Vernon Nazarene.
The Eagles will play seven straight on the road, starting on Wednesday (Sept. 8) at Lake Erie. The game will be the GLIAC opener for both teams and the first in Lake Erie's history.
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