Ravens Rally Past Beavers in Back-and-Forth Battle

The Anderson University men's soccer team rallied past Bluffton University with a 3-2 victory during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Bluffton, Ohio.

Sam Rowlison put the Ravens (4-6-2, 1-3) on the board in the 18th minute after bending in a corner kick for a goal.

The Beavers (4-5-3, 2-2) were fouled in the box in the 56th minute and Elijah Zimmerman evened the score with a penalty kick goal. Bluffton scored for the second time in a minute when Maximillian Pierce served a pass to Jackson Clark who headed the pass in for the goal, giving the Beavers a 2-1 lead.

During the 61st minute, Rowlison intercepted a pass and sent a pass to Jordan Bossman who has space on the left side. After making a quick move, Bossman roped a shot in the top-right corner, which struck the inside of the crossbar and right post before going into the goal. Rowlison received the assist on Bossman's goal.

Anderson was fouled in the box during the 82nd minute. Drew Vaughn was awarded a penalty kick and he gave the Ravens a 3-2 lead and sealed the victory.

"As irritated as I am that we couldn't manage the lead, I am ecstatic they had the resolve to come back after giving up two second-half goals in less than a minute," Coach Scott Fridley said. "Hopefully this will get us heading in the right direction to finish the regular season. When we are composed, I think we are hard to beat. Consistency is the key here going forward with a dose of patience."

Rowlison notched a goal and an assist for three points. The senior midfielder from Fishers put both of his shots on frame. Caleb Opoku put each of his four shots on frame. Vaughn closed out with four shots and two shots on goal. Bossman recorded three shots and two shots on goal. Stephen Fite and Usman Kamara each registered three shots and one shot on goal. Regan Frost put both of his shots on frame. Josh Martinez tallied two shots and one shot on goal to round out Anderson's 23 shots.

Dalton Sheltz saved three of the five shots he faced.

Anderson outshot Bluffton 23-18 and held a 15-5 advantage in shots on goal.

The Ravens go head to head with Defiance College (1-8-5, 0-3-1) in HCAC action on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Fridley Field.