The Ashland University men's soccer team has its eyes set on a couple results this weekend as the Eagles play host to Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference newcomers Purdue Northwest and Davenport this weekend.
The Eagles (4-6, 0-6 GLIAC) are in the middle of a stretch in which they play three games in five days after falling at host Tiffin on Wednesday, despite keeping possession for much of the game.
Purdue Northwest will make its first-ever visit to Ashland on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Pride (3-5-1, 2-4 GLIAC) have lost three straight games. PNW defeated the Eagles in Hammond, Ind., 2-1, in the teams' first matchup of the season. Freshman Justin Libertowski scored the goal for the Eagles with the assist coming from sophomore Zach Hillman.
Davenport (6-3-1, 3-2-1 GLIAC) comes into the weekend as the highest scoring team in the GLIAC, averaging 2.3 goals per game. The Panthers are paced by Brogan Shrimpton, who is the conference leader with 14 goals. DU defeated the Eagles, 5-0, in Grand Rapids, Mich. earlier this season. Ashland and Davenport square off on Sunday at 3 p.m.
On Wednesday, Tiffin scored the opening goal before the Eagles settled in and had the ball for much of the remainder of the first half. It paid off when sophomore Jordan Dees smashed a cross from Libertowski to tie game at 1. After halftime, the Eagles mounted chances, but could not get the go-ahead goal as Tiffin was able to gain traction and score three goals in the final 15 minutes.
Libertowski leads the Eagles in goals (five) and assists (three) while sophomores Andrew Pearson and Thomas Ardron have three and two goals, respectively.
Freshman keeper Dimitrius Karousos leads the GLIAC with 50 saves and is fourth in the league with a .735 save percentage.
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