Men's Soccer opens conference play with 2-2 draw at Manchester

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Defiance College men's soccer team was unable to hold off the Manchester University Spartans Wednesday night as the two teams opened conference play with a 2-2 draw. Both teams are 0-0-1 in HCAC play and Defiance is now 3-4-3 while Manchester is still without a loss and improves to 4-0-5. 

Manchester's Maruwe Exauce fired off the first shot of the contest just over four minutes in and it was saved by Orry Killam. Defiance's first shot attempt came from Griffin Meyer at the 10:28 mark of the first half. 

With the Yellow Jackets on the attack, the ball got loose and Manchester took it all the way down the field for the first goal of the game as Harley Kruschwitz put enough power on the shot to get it past Killam to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute. 

The Yellow Jackets tied the game four minutes later. Defiance was awarded a free kick following a Manchester foul at the 20 yard line on the field. Griffin Meyer lofted the ball into the box and Riley Hensley headed it above the goalkeeper's head to tie the game at 33rd minute mark. 

The Spartans nearly took the lead seconds before the half ended but the shot deflected off of Orry Killam's body and the teams went into halftime the same way they started. The Spartans fired off 15 shots in the half with five being on goal compared to only 3 by DC with the only one on goal resulting in the game-tying goal. 

Thirty seconds into the second half, the Yellow Jackets committed a foul inside the box which led to a Manchester penalty kick. Harley Kruschwitz hesitated, sent it right down the middle and Orry Killam saved the penalty.

In the 68th minute, the Yellow Jackets capitalized on a corner kick and took a 2-1 lead. Riley Hensley sent the ball into the backside of the box with the only two players back that far being one Spartan defender and Quinn Holtzapple. Quinn headed the ball into the upper right corner of the net for his first career goal. 

After the goal from Holtzapple, the Yellow Jackets were unable to record any shot attempts during the final 22 minutes despite having three corner kick opportunities during the final stretch. 

Just like the Yellow Jackets, the Spartans found the equalizer off a free kick in the 84th minute. Following a Defiance foul, the Spartans were awarded a free kick at the 28 yard line. Manchester's Noah Black took the free kick and attempted to take it quickly as it looked like nobody was set and ready. He sent the ball into the box and found Harley Kruschwitz, their leading scorer, and Kruschwitz appeared to rear his leg back and record a look-alike bicycle kick to tie the game as the ball glanced off the inside of the post and into the back of the net to tie the game at two with just over five minutes remaining. 

The Yellow Jackets had two corner kick opportunities in the 87th minute but were unable to take advantage as the game would result in a tie.

The Spartans had a 24-6 advantage in shots and sent nine on goal compared to only two by the Yellow Jackets. There were a total of 27 fouls in the game but only two yellow cards were handed out with each team receiving one. 

Riley Hensley and Griffin Meyer each recorded two shot attempts in the game and Orry Killam saved seven shots. 

The Yellow Jackets will play their home conference opener against Hanover at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be played on the turf at Justin F. Coressel Stadium.