Men's Soccer knocks off Bluffton on the road

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Defiance College men's soccer team earned a huge road win with a 1-0 victory at Bluffton Wednesday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets improve to 5-6-5 overall and 2-2-3 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) with the win. Bluffton is now 7-6-1 overall and 3-3-1 in the HCAC.

The two teams wasted no time getting started in this one as Bluffton's Elijah Zimmerman recorded the first shot attempt 48 seconds into the game. Griffin Meyer recorded the first shot attempt for the Yellow Jackets 90 seconds in and it was saved by Bluffton goalkeeper Angel Velasco-Urbina. 

The two teams combined for 12 shot attempts in the first half with the Yellow Jackets having the 7-5 advantage. Griffin Meyer led the team in shots during the first half with three and all three were on goal as Defiance was able to put early pressure on the Beavers.

The Yellow Jackets had a few scoring opportunities to begin the second half. Joshua Maurer and Griffin Meyer each took one corner kick in the first nine minutes. The Yellow Jackets were able to break through in the 58th minute as Griffin Meyer and Noah Svanberg connected for Svanberg's third goal and it was Meyer's seventh assist. 

Shortly after the goal, the Beavers recorded their first shot attempt of the second half in the 59th minute and in total ended up with three scoring chances that were all shut down by Orry Killam.

Griffin Meyer almost found the back of the net in the 84th minute as the ball got past the Bluffton keeper but the Beaver defense was there for backup to kick the ball out of play. The two teams continued to put pressure on the opposing defenses but both defenses held true the rest of the way to get to the 1-0 result. 

The Defiance defense held Bluffton without a shot for the final 11 minutes. Orry Killam posted his second straight shutout and made seven saves in the game. Jeremy Fuller, Joshua Maurer, Griffin Meyer, and Noah Svanberg combined for Defiance's 15 shots in the game as Svanberg led the way with six shot attempts. 

The Yellow Jackets are back in action against Transylvania for senior day at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, October 21 at Justin F. Coressel Stadium. The game is a doubleheader with the women with the women's game beginning at 1 p.m.