UPLAND, Ind. – Kicking off the season in familiar territory, Spring Arbor University men's soccer head coach Nathan Miller had his guys ready to go from the start playing against his alma mater. A dominating first half by the Cougars yielded no fruit but set the tone for the remainder of the game. The Cougars scored twice in the second half to put the match away. 

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Spring Arbor 2, Taylor 0

LOCATION: Turner Stadium| Upland, Ind.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 7-2-1 (1-0-0 CL), Taylor 2-6-2 (0-1-0 CL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Although the first half ended in a 0-0 tie, the Cougars set the tone from the onset. Spring Arbor outshot Taylor 8-3 and forced a lot of pressure on the Trojan defense.
• Spring Arbor picked up in the second half right where it left off, this time finding the back of the net. In the 60th minute, senior Michael Caccavo one touched a beautiful pass from Janum Sailor to beat the keeper giving the SAU a 1-0 lead.
• Spring Arbor continued to apply pressure forcing a Taylor foul just outside the 18. Lewis Jones stepped up to address the free kick and buried it in the top left corner for his third goal of the season extending the Cougars lead to 2-0.
• Cobi Piper did not have a heavy workload, but did come up with two key saves to preserve the shutout.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Spring Arbor dominated on the pitch and on the stat sheet. The Cougars outshot Taylor 18-8 with seven on goal to the Trojans' two.
• Piper was great between the pipes again pitching his third shutout of the season.
• The game was somewhat chippy as the two teams compiled 30 penalties throughout. Taylor finished with 18 compared to Spring Arbor's 12.

QUOTES FROM THE COACH

• "We are really pleased with the work rate of the team, and the mentality we brought on the road for an early kickoff."
• "Taylor is a unique challenge as they throw so many numbers high in their pressing, but our guys made great decisions and stayed composed."
• "We created so many big chances and should have put it away in the first half, but we showed grit and quality in the second half."

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor comes home to face off with the Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan University (5-3-1, 0-1-0 CL) in a contest that could very well decide the regular season conference champion. IWU is ranked No. 16 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll. Spring Arbor will put its 16-game home unbeaten streak on the line Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.

Men's Soccer Contact: Chris Bauman | 517-750-6504 | christopher.bauman@arbor.edu
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