WINTER PARK, Fla. (September 20, 2009) -
A goal in the final minutes cut the Tars lead to one, but the
stingy defense dug in during crunch time as the Rollins men's
soccer team posted a 3-2 win over pesky Warner University Sunday
afternoon.
Bradley Welch scored two
goals and assisted on another while J.D. Gruenewald recorded a
pair of assists to keep the Tars unbeaten at 7-0-1 heading into
Sunshine State Conference play in the coming week. The loss drops
the Royals to 2-3 on the season.
The first half was played to a scoreless draw as the Tars fired off
nine total shots, including four on goal that were all stopped by
Warner keeper Jonathan Romero. The Tars back line of Kevin
Boone, Jacob Deloach, Thomas
Biddinger and Jack Clifford limited the
visitors to just four shots and just one on frame that was saved by
Tars net minder Aaron Rokeach.
Rollins cracked the scoreboard in the 58th minute as Deloach found
Welch in the middle of the field who then one touched a pass to a
streaking Stephen Wright down the left
sideline. The Winter Park native then drove home the first score of
the game to put the Tars up 1-0. Just three minutes later
Gruenewald served a long ball into the Tars attacking zone to
Welch, who fought off two defenders and a near offside call and
punched the ball past a diving Romero for a 2-0 Rollins lead.
The Royals quickly cut the Rollins lead in half as, after a Tars
foul, Daniel Scully drove a free kick from 40 yards out right to
the chest of Rokeach, but the ball squirted from his grasp and
found the foot Reginald Francois for the score.
Rollins made it 3-1 in the 75th minute with Gruenewald finding
space on the right side and sending a perfect, arching cross to the
head of Welch for the score. The Royals scored in the 88th minute
as Scully started a play with a free kick in nearly the same spot
as before and the Tars were unable to clear the service with Thomas
Bitro scoring the loose ball goal to make it 3-2. The Tars,
however, controlled down the stretch and held on for the victory,
gathering momentum heading into their conference season.
Rollins will kick off Sunshine State Conference play on Saturday,
September 26th at Saint Leo with game time slated for 7 p.m. Fans
can listen to the action live on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
