AURORA, Il. – The Calvin men's soccer team picked up a 1-1 draw at Aurora Tuesday night. It marked the second straight year that the two sides have played to a 1-1 tie.
Calvin (2-0-1) threatened early but Aurora goalkeeper Jalen Depenbrock was able to make a pair of key early saves to keep the match scoreless. The Spartans (1-0-2) then scored against the run of play as Nick Willner broke loose on a counterattack. On the break, Willner, slipped a shot into the back of the Calvin net to give Aurora a 1-0 lead in the 20
th minute of play.
Calvin began to press for the equalizer early in the second half with senior
Ethan Harvey (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) ringing the top of the crossbar with a shot in the 59
th minute.
In the 68
th minute, the Knights leveled the score 1-1 on a well-crafted play that was finished off by freshman
Jacob Ryu (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) with a shot at the far post. Junior
Oliver Akintade (Lake Forest, Il./Lake Forest HS) opened the play with a rush up the left wing that was slipped through the box by junior Evan Nieuewenhuis to the waiting foot of Ryu who blasted in his second goal of the young season.
Neither team was able to score the rest of the way as the teams settled for the draw.
Calvin finished with a 9-8 shots at goal advantage.
Senior goalkeeper
Daniel Wunder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) had one save in goal for the Knights.
COACHES COMMENT: "Honestly, just a really frustrating night," said Calvin head men's soccer coach
Ryan Souders. "I feel like there were some moments that were fantastic, but we just haven't been able to consistently string them together often enough. When we can't do that, we don't get the results we're after. Credit to Aurora. They did some things that made it difficult for us tonight and should be applauded. We'll have to learn from it and work to be better and quickly."
NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University this Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Calvin will take on 18
th-ranked Hanover in a match scheduled for 5 p.m. and will then turn around to meet host Ohio Wesleyan Saturday at 7 p.m.