Anderson Punches Ticket to HCAC Tournament on Senior Day

The Anderson University men's soccer team (7-8-2, 4-5) fought past Earlham College (3-12-1, 1-8) by a score of 2-1 on Senior Day, punching its ticket to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament during Wednesday's HCAC matchup at Fridley Field.

Anderson celebrated seniors Cade Bell, Brayden Humbert, R.J. Macomber and Sam Rowlison at halftime of Wednesday's match.

SCORING SUMMARY

• Anderson Goal at 20:27 (1-0): Goal – Usman Kamara
• Anderson Goal at 36:54 (2-0): Goal – Stephen Fite, Assist – Caleb Opoku
• Earlham Goal at 85:00 (1-2): Goal – Braden Guinn

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Anderson outshot Earlham 24-10 and held an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.
• Usman Kamara – 1 Goal, 2 Points, 3 Shots, 1 Shot on Goal
• Stephen Fite – 1 Goal, 2 Points, 2 Shots, 2 Shots on Goal
• Caleb Opoku – 1 Assist, 1 Point, 3 Shots, 1 Shot on Goal
• Regan Frost – 5 Shots, 3 Shots on Goal
• Jordan Bossman – 3 Shots
• Sam Rowlison – 3 Shots
• Caleb Gonser – 2 Shots
• Brendan Hall – 1 Shot, 1 Shot on Goal
• Art Hinton IV – 1 Shot
• Drew Vaughn – 1 Shot

COACH SCOTT FRIDLEY'S COMMENTS

• I thought we had moments where we played very well. At 2-0, I thought we were in charge of the game with multiple chances to kind of finish the game off. Give [Earlham Coach Aaron Gustine's] kids credit for not quitting and getting a late goal to make it more exciting at the end.
• The kids have shown resilience as we had to win our last two games just to have a chance to get into the tournament and now we have an opportunity to continue to move forward and end on a good note.
• We have a lot of good pieces to the puzzle; it just depends which day they all show up to play together. When we are on the same page, I think we're a good and dangerous team.
• We are excited to have the chance to go to Transylvania and play a very well-coached team that will work hard and make us play to another level to be successful. I'm proud of the kids for getting it done [on Wednesday].
• I will miss these four seniors. I've seen a growth in them as men. I know they will all do well in the world and we are lucky to call them alumni as they go out into the world and start their next step in life. Hopefully, we can continue to extend the senior year for them deep into the postseason. They have each meant a lot to the program and we appreciate all the time and effort they have put in.

UP NEXT

Sixth-seeded Anderson faces off with third-seeded Transylvania University (8-5-4, 5-3-1) in the Opening Round of the HCAC Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. in Lexington, Ky.