MEN’S SOCCER

The HU men’s soccer team picked up a critical 2-0 win over Taylor University (6-8-3, 2-5-1) Saturday night under the lights at Turner Stadium. The win sets up a match for the conference championship title Wednesday afternoon against #13 Spring Arbor.

SAU holds a one game lead over HU so a Cougar win would give them sole rights to the regular season championship while a Forester win would mean a shared title with Lawson’s crew getting the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Tonight’s contest could be described as an all-out battle as both teams leveraged for any sort of advantage but it was just a matter of time before the Foresters finally broke down the Taylor defense. HU generated 19 shots, ten on frame, with the pay-off finally coming in the 61st minute on a set piece.

As has been the case all year, Jake Erlandson got his head on a corner kick to find upper 90 for his tenth goal of the year. Hunter Jackson was credited with the assist for his second dime of the season.

“This was a phenomenal game for the boys tonight,” said Coach Lawson. “I’m proud of how they persevered. While the first half was played between the 18s, I felt like we came out in the second half with an attacking mentality.

“It was some of our finest movement of the year. We forced some incredible saves and stayed with it until we finally broke the ice on yet another restart. We continue to be dangerous on our restarts which is encouraging.”

With momentum on their side, HU continued to apply pressure and eighteen minutes and nine shots later, Lawson’s crew struck again. This time it was Ben Arnold who buried a ball in a scramble off a corner for his first goal of the year. It solidified the win as Huntington improves to 12-3-2 overall, 6-1-1 in league play.

Defensively, HU was locked in all evening to give up just seven shots, only one of which was on target. Keeper Gabe Greenfield picked up his second straight shutout. His total on the year stands at seven. Huntington’s dominating second half performance was also rewarded with seven corner kicks, all of which came in the final 45 minutes, while limiting their hosts to just two on the night.

“Tonight we had the right intensity and the right commitment level,” said Lawson. “The boys earned this one. Taylor is an organized gritty team with some dangerous players up top. We knew we had to keep our shape and not give them anything on the break and we did that. From top to bottom of our roster, this was a fantastic result.”

The Foresters host the high-stakes match against Spring Arbor on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.