Defiance Tops Muskingum, 2-1

DEFIANCE, OHIO - The Defiance College men's soccer team hosted Muskingum University and edged out the Fighting Muskies, 2-1, in a non-conference game at Winsper-Knobel Memorial Field.

Defiance (2-8-1) was able to out shoot the Muskies (4-5) by a count of 10-4.

Within the first five minutes of the game, sophomore midfielder Victor Trifiro (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) and junior midfielder Jayson Long (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) both made plays to keep the Muskingum defense on its toes, but came up empty-handed.

Muskingum retaliated and found the back of the net at the 16:46 mark taking the lead and making the score 1-0.

Nick Kleptz (Troy) and Drew Metz (Northwood/Lake) rallied back trying to make the score even, but missed the mark, keeping the deficit 1-0 going into halftime.

After intermission the Yellow Jackets struck with back-to-back goals by Kleptz making the score 2-1. The first goal came at the 53:04 mark when Kleptz found the back of the net off a free kick rebound from Long and Ian Faschnact (Strongsville/Padua Franciscan). The second goal was the outcome of a penalty kick at the 54:26 mark.

The Yellow Jacket defense held the Muskies scoreless in the second half and earned their second win of the season.  

In the net for the Yellow Jackets, sophomore goalie Damian Koester (Englewood/Brookville) recorded one save.

The Purple & Gold look to continue their winning ways when they host Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology Saturday, Oct. 4 at 3:30 pm at Winsper-Knobel Memorial Field.