Own Goal Comes Back to Sting Jackets in 1-0 Loss to Anderson

DEFIANCE, Ohio – It was a tale of two halves in the match, but an own goal by the DC men's soccer team with 12 seconds left in the first period, came back to haunt the squad in a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat to the Anderson Ravens in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action.

For the first period, it was all Anderson. It attacked the Yellow Jackets with constant offensive pressure and never let DC get any sets running. For 44 minutes, the Ravens had registered 11 shots at the net with 0 by Defiance. But the defense held strong to keep the visitors out of the net.

Then, seemingly as the half was about to end, the Anderson goalkeeper got the ball and blasted it deep into the Defiance territory. As the ball was coming down, a DC player misread the ball and headed it backwards towards the goal where it bounced over the keepers head for an own goal and a 1-0 Ravens advantage at the half.

In the second period, it was a complete flip in play from the first half. The Yellow Jackets came out with enthusiasm and energy to dominate the whole period. Great ball movement and well-run sets led to multiple solid attempts at the net.

The aggressive DC racked up 13 shots over the period to Anderson's three.  However, the packed-in Ravens defense did not break and kept every shot out of the net. There were several spectacular goalie and team saves, to keep the Jackets from scoring and that was all Anderson would need as it escaped with a 1-0 victory.

With the win, the Ravens move to 7-9-1 (3-2-1 HCAC) and the Jackets sink to 2-13-1 (2-3-1 HCAC).

Defiance heads to Lexington, Ky. Saturday October 20 for its next match with the Transylvania Pioneers. The game is set for 1:30 p.m.