Ravens Fall on Senior Day

The Anderson University men's soccer team welcomed the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to Macholtz Stadium for Wednesday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) contest. The Ravens, who were celebrating Senior Day, fell to the Fightin' Engineers 4-1.

"I thought we had moments of brilliance [on Wednesday]," Coach Scott Fridley said. "In the second half down 1-2, I felt we were in a good place, with chances to tie up the game.

Unfortunate breakdowns caused us to lose touch with the end of the game. The third goal finished us off at the end. There were parts of the game that I finally felt like we had some rhythm and looked like a soccer team."

The Ravens (1-6-1, 1-6-1) fought hard against the Fightin' Engineers (8-0-1, 8-0-1) in the first half, finding themselves on the defensive side of things through much of the half. In the first half alone, the Fightin' Engineers had 12 shots, while the Ravens only had one. The Fightin' Engineers were able to break Anderson's strong defensive stand in the 42nd minute with a goal by Jackson Sedia. The Ravens entered halftime trailing the Fightin' Engineers 1-0.

Coming out of halftime, both teams were quick to take their chances at goal. In the 53rd minute, the Fightin' Engineers built their lead to 2-0 over the Ravens with a goal by Brevin Lacy. The Ravens wasted no time to hand the attack back to the Fightin Engineers. Drew Vaughn (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) ended the shutout for the Ravens finding the back of the net in the 59th minute off a corner kick by Grant Conklin (Lewisburg, Ohio/Troy Christian). The Ravens trailed the Fightin' Engineers 2-1 with about 30 minutes of play left.

Rose-Hulman would go on to score two more goals over the Ravens. In the 73rd minute, Jacob Dirienzo scored, while in the 84th minute, Sam Alvares rounded up the scoring for the day with a goal.

At halftime, the Ravens honored their two seniors, Wes Erny (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) and Malik Gayler (Crawfordsville, Ind./Southmont). Erny has tallied 12 goals and six assists for 30 points in his career. He has played in 45 matches and started in 35. Gayler has competed in 25 matches and started in two during his career.

"I am so proud of Wes and Malik as we celebrate them and say thank you for four great years with us. They are great young men and we will miss them."

The Ravens will close out the 2020-21 HCAC season on Friday as they head over to North Manchester to take on the Spartans of Manchester University (5-3, 5-3). Kickoff between the two teams is set for 4 p.m.