Defiance Steals Win From Earlham

DEFIANCE, OHIO - The Defiance College men's soccer team came back from a 1-0 deficit in the final minutes of regulation to beat Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Earlham (Ind.) College, 2-1, at the Winsper-Knobel Memorial Field. 

Defiance (5-6-2, 2-1-1 HCAC) outshot Earlham (5-7, 1-3 HCAC), 5-4, in the first half, but were not able to find the back of the net. Junior Christian Meister took the first shot of the game for the Yellow Jackets at the 35:55 mark, missing high. The Quakers scored their first and only goal of the contest just 13 minutes into play to take the 1-0 lead. They remained quiet on the scoreboard the remainder of the game. 

Freshman Jacob Carriveau (Clio, Mich./Clio) had the only shot on goal for DC in the first 45 minutes which led to a save for the Quaker netminder.

The Quakers put two more shots on net following the go-ahead goal, but all shots were stopped by DC goalkeeper Clay Musgrave (Upper Sandusky) keeping the margin at a single goal with Earlham leading, 1-0, at the break.

The Yellow Jackets continued to take opportunities, but couldn't net the equalizer early on in the second half.  Earlham looked to be headed to victory, still maintaining a one-goal edge as the clock moved under the 10-minute mark remaining in the contest. 

The DC offense then found its spark in the final minutes as freshman Jacob Diffenderfer-Gabbard (Troy) scored the tying goal at the 84:23 mark with a helper from fellow freshman Jacob Carriveau (Clio, Mich./Clio). 

Three minutes later, Carriveau then netted a goal of his own off of a rebound early in the 88th minute to put DC ahead, 2-1.  The goal by Carriveau turned out the be the game-winner as the Jackets held the Quakers from getting any final scoring chances, sealing the come-from-behind win. 

Musgrave played the entire game in net for Defiance and allowed just one goal while posting a pair of saves. 

The Yellow Jackets will continue their four-game home stretch on Saturday (Oct. 15) when they host Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in a HCAC game at Winsper-Knobel Field. The game will be part of a soccer doubleheader with the DC women's team.  The women will play against the Fightin' Engineers at 1 p.m., followed by the men at 3:30 p.m.