MEN’S SOCCER

The #RV HU men’s soccer team had to settle for a 2-2 double overtime draw on opening night of league play against the Lancers of Grace College. With 15 minutes remaining, the Foresters held what seemed a comfortable 2-0 lead with no reason to suspect they wouldn’t escape First Source Bank Field with a W.

But then the Lancers (6-1-2, 0-0-1) did the unthinkable – more specifically Marcelo Talamas did the unthinkable. The junior forward, Grace’s leading scorer, lasered a shot back netting in the 75th minute to keep things interesting and then with less than three minutes to go, he struck again much to the horror of Lawson and company. It was his eighth and ninth goal of the season.

A quick glance at the history books would suggest a dramatic ending isn’t too surprising as the emotionally-charged rivalry is well-documented. Since 2012, with the exception of 2017 when HU won 3-1, only one goal has separated these two squads at game’s end with the Lancers enjoying the slight 4-3-2 edge.

Tonight’s battle, featuring a combined 35 fouls, favored HU early on. Within a five-minute span starting at the 34:55 mark, the Foresters scored twice to hold a lead until Talamas’ rampage.

Warsaw native Eric Ocock got things started for HU when he forced the keeper to make a great save after which Christian Kohen was able to slam in the rebound for the game’s first goal. Minutes later on a restart, Caleb Sexton served a ball just inside the 18 that Jake Erlandson got his head on to double the Foresters’ lead heading into intermission.

“There was a lot of quality soccer on both sides,” noted Coach Lawson. “We jumped out to an early lead and I thought we had a couple more opportunities where we could have pushed the lead to 3-0 but give Grace credit – they’re a quality side with a dynamic attack with a top class striker who was able to bring them back.

While Lawson was a bit disappointed to have given up a 2-0 lead, he still had plenty of positives to take away from the match. “Grace’s comeback doesn’t take away from the effort and organization of the boys. It just shows us how challenging it is win on the road.”

The Foresters (6-2-2, 0-0-1) return to King Stadium on Saturday to host Indiana Wesleyan at 3:00 p.m.