SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Sophomore Jared Putt recorded his first career hat trick on Wednesday night as the Spring Arbor University men's soccer team defeated Grace College 4-2 to remain unbeaten in the Crossroads League.
Putt helped the Cougars move quickly out of the gate scoring his first goal just over two minutes into the match. After a Lancer defender made a pass back to the goalkeeper, an attacking Putt forced a turnover and put the ball in the back of the net to give SAU an early lead.
Putt added to the advantage off an assist from Michael Caccavo at the 19:00 mark. This time it was Caccavo creating a takeaway deep in the attacking third before finding Putt at the top 18-yard box, and he would rip a shot past the GC keeper to put the Cougars up 2-0.
Grace (6-4-1, 1-2-1 Crossroads League) caught a break in the 23rd minute, however, and was able to narrow the deficit to one when a cross was deflected by an SAU defender and ricocheted into the goal. The Cougars would take that 2-1 lead into halftime.
After the break, the home team pushed the margin back to two when sophomore Adam Hunt scored his second goal of the season in the 56th minute. Senior Riley Luttenton's corner kick was punched away by the Lancer keeper, but, after bouncing off the crossbar, the ball found Hunt, who headed it into the goal.
However, the Lancers would not go away easily. After a goal by Kyle Hamlin in the 70th minute made it a 3-2 Cougar lead, a few minutes later a turnover at midfield created an odd-man rush for the visitors, but an outstanding save by goalkeeper Billy Irvine would preserve the SAU lead.
Putt would dash the hopes of a comeback though with his third goal of the night in the 86th minute. Putt beat two defenders and blasted a shot past the Lancer netminder to put the game away.
The Cougars owned a slight edge in shots – recording 16 compared to Grace's 14 – and had a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Spring Arbor (9-1-3, 2-0-2 Crossroads League) will host Bethel College on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
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