The Ashland University men's soccer team knocked off the GLIAC's top team on Friday (Oct. 19) afternoon as the Eagles traveled to Parkside and picked up a 2-0 win over the front-running Rangers.
The Eagles (5-8-2, 4-6-1 GLIAC) further helped their cause in their quest to clinch a spot in the GLIAC Tournament. Ashland, which is unbeaten in its last four games, has a seven-point advantage over Davenport in the GLIAC standings for the final spot in the tournament.
AU still has an outside chance of climbing to the No. 4 seed and have a home game in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal.
The Eagles were coming off a 1-0-1 road trip to Northwood and Northern Michigan and have now picked up 10 points in their last four games.
This was the culmination of that strong play as the Eagles turned in their top performance of the season.
Ashland got on the board in the 13th minute as sophomore Jackson Crawford got on the end of a cross by sophomore Yusuke Yasumasu for his first goal of the season.
The Eagles maintained the lead into halftime and were able to cash in a second time just three minutes after the break. Redshirt-freshman Kieran Paterson intercepted a bad pass from the midfield and scored into the left side of goal for his third goal of the season.
Ashland had further chances to advance its lead as the Rangers pushed numbers forward in the second half, but the 2-0 score line held. It was the Eagles' first clean sheet since a 2-0 win over Northwood on Sept. 30.
The Eagles had a 14-13 lead in shots overall and a 7-5 advantage in the second half. The Rangers led in corner kicks, 13-4.
Ashland will now have the rest of the weekend off before returning to the field on Tuesday (Oct. 23) for a nonconference match at Gannon in Erie, Pa. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.
AU
MSOC/BB