MARION, Ind. – The Spring Arbor University men's soccer team was eliminated from the Crossroads League Tournament after falling at top-seeded Indiana Wesleyan University 2-1 in the semifinals on Saturday night.
After falling behind early, the Cougars rallied to level the match, but were unable to slow down the league's Player of the Year Tyrone Martin, who scored his second goal of the night in the 54th minute to give the No. 5 Wildcats the victory.
Martin opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he finished a cross from Seth Kintigh, just past a diving Billy Irvine.
However, the Cougars would find the equalizer in the 29th minute with a goal from Jared Putt. The IWU goalkeeper could not cleanly handle a blast from Kevin Veeder, and Putt was there to clean up the rebound.
The Wildcats were looking to retake the lead just before halftime, but Irvine would come up huge with a diving save to keep the score knotted at 1-1 heading into the break.
Despite controlling possession and tempo early in the second half, Spring Arbor found itself trailing 2-1 after Martin struck for the second time, heading home a cross from Shawn Bloch in the 54th minute.
Just seconds later, SAU created a dangerous chance, but Stevenson Storm's close range shot was stopped by the IWU netminder and the Wildcats would hold on to advance to the championship match for the third straight season.
Indiana Wesleyan held a 13-7 advantage in shots and a slim 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
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