Men's Soccer 10/12/2016 12:00:00 AM

Spring Arbor drops first league game of the year at MVNU

Box Score

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – The No. 22 ranked Spring Arbor University men's soccer team allowed Mount Vernon Nazarene one opportunity all day and it proved to be costly. MVNU found the back of the net on midway through the first half and held on to secure a big Crossroads League win.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: #22 Spring Arbor 0, Mount Vernon Nazarene 1

LOCATION: Mount Vernon, Ohio

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 9-3-3 (3-1-2 CL), Mount Vernon Nazarene 11-3-1 (4-2-0 CL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Spring Arbor played well in the first half, dialing up several scoring chances early on as they tested the MVNU keeper. The Cougars of Spring Arbor posted four first half chances.
Mount Vernon Nazarene did not do much offensively all day, except for one chance in the first half. In the 27th minute, Connor Davis found teammate Enrique Salazar who finished the ball well to give the home team a 1-0 advantage.
Spring Arbor would not go away easily, however. They continued to break the MVNU defense down trying to find the equalizer. To no avail, the visitors posted three more quality chances in the second half but could never find the net.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

Spring Arbor dropped its first conference match of the season, which dropped them into third place in the league standings.
Mount Vernon Nazarene committed 15 fouls on the day.
Spring Arbor out shot MVNU 15-6 and 7-1 in scoring chances. SAU also posted five corner kicks to MVNU's three.

FOR THE FOES

Enrique Salazar was the only player to record a shot on goal on the afternoon for the Cougars.
MVNU goalkeeper Adam Miller came up huge between the pipes, making seven saves on all seven chances.
The home win moves the Cougars to 4-2 in league play and only three points back of the Bethel Pilots.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH NATHAN MILLER

"I'm actually very proud of our team for continuing on, and pushing and competing, and trying to solve problems. We gave up one shot, which we need to defend better for sure, but this game can be infuriating at times and today is just hard."
"Obviously we had great quality chances that we will continue to work at to make sure we bury teams in the first half and not let them stay in games."
"But, playing away at MVNU is really hard for a lot of reasons. That surface doesn't help and other outside factors as well, but we are going to regroup and finish really, really strong."

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will come home to familiar ground to take on Grace College (7-5-2, 2-4-0 CL). The match is scheduled Saturday, Oct. 15 for a 7 p.m. kick.

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