Men's soccer shuts out Franklin 2-0

DEFIANCE, OH - Two games, two shutouts. The Defiance College men's soccer team recorded their second shutout of the week on Saturday afternoon blanking Franklin by a score of 2-0. Seniors Jarren Casto and Maxwell Alvarado scored for the Yellow Jackets.  

"For 70 minutes we played a fantastic soccer game. Franklin has some good players and our back line did another great job of limiting danger," Defiance head coach Cory Bucur said. "I thought we were well organized until it went 10v10. The game got physical and sloppy for a period of time in the second half but we saw the game out and are going into a massive week sitting at 2-0."

Alvarado logged the first goal of the game 19 minutes into the first half when he put the ball past the Franklin goalkeeper after collecting a pass from Juan Olvera. The goal is the ninth of Alvardo's career and gave Olvera his second career assist.

"Juan Olvera had his best game since I've been here and found himself in quite a bit of space throughout the game. His pass on Max's goal was fantastic and Max definitely deserved his goal today for all the work he's put in coming into this season," said Bucur.

The Yellow Jackets totaled eight shots in the first half compared to the five from the Grizzlies. Defiance also outdrew Franklin in corner kicks 9-2 in the half.

In the second half, Casto launched a shot that arched over the visiting keeper and into the back of the net to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. Casto's goal is the 15th of his career, putting him in sole possession of fifth-place on the team's career leaderboard. He also currently sits fifth in career points at 42. Olvera also assisted on Casto's goal.

"Jarren continues to put himself in good situations and continues the score big goals for us. I'm very happy that he, Max, and Juan had their moments today," Bucur said.

Austin Boles made his first career start in net for the Yellow Jackets. The sophomore stopped the only shot on goal he faced to record Defiance's second consecutive shutout. As a team Defiance outshot Franklin 11-8 but recorded seven shots on goal to their opponent's one.

"Austin Boles has grown into a reliable keeper and showed today why we trusted him with a big start. He may have only had one official save but his distribution was on point and was alert off his line to sweep up any danger that came his way." said Bucur. The coach also recognized the defensive prowess of his back line saying "Again we have to highlight how great our back line played today with Nick Stifel, Carson Macklin, and Jacob Rygula. These three guys have been rock solid to start the year."

Today marked the fifth consecutive game in which the Yellow Jackets recorded two goals against Franklin, dating back to 2016. Defiance is 4-0-1 in those games, winning the past four after a 2-2 tie in 2016.

This is the second time that Defiance has recorded back-to-back shutouts under the direction of Bucur, the first being against nonconference opponents Heidelberg and Great Lakes Christian in 2019. It is also the first time the Yellow Jackets shut out two HCAC opponents in consecutive games since the 2017 squad ended the season with shutouts of Anderson and Mount St. Joseph.

"I am quite pleased with the soccer we played. Our midfield did a much better job of getting on the ball and combining with each other and it allows our wingers to find space to make us successful. The best part was getting everyone who was healthy and dressed for the game into the game. These boys have worked so hard during this year that everyone deserved to see the field for the role they have played to get us to 2-0!" Bucur closed with. 

The Yellow Jackets will play the next three games on the road starting on Wednesday night at Manchester at 6 pm.