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| Lucas Hunt |
WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster's defense performed at a high level against one of the top teams in NCAA Div. III, as it shut out Ohio Wesleyan University's aggressive attack through one half of play, but the No. 16 ranked Battling Bishops scored three times during a short stretch in the second half on their way to a 3-1 victory over the Fighting Scots during Homecoming on Saturday at John P. Papp Stadium.
The first half was as competitive as it comes between the Scots (3-5-1, 0-1 NCAC) and the Bishops (7-2-1, 1-0 NCAC), with good looks being produced on both ends of the field. Wooster was the aggressor early, as Luke Collier and Mouhamet Ndiaye fired off the first two shots of the game. Ultimately, Ohio Wesleyan outshot Wooster 7-4 before halftime, but goalkeeper Alex Molinari made three of his four saves in the half to keep the game knotted at 0-0 entering the break.
The Scots made a mistake early in the second half, as a costly foul inside the goal box resulted in a penalty kick goal by Colton Bloecher that put the Bishops up 1-0.
Five minutes later, Bloecher scored again, and then in the 64th minute, Evan Lee found the back of the net to give Ohio Wesleyan a commanding 3-0 advantage.
Had it not been for that 14-plus minute stretch, the Scots looked capable of pulling off an upset. Later in the game, Lucas Hunt delivered a cross into the box to Ndiaye on the far post, and the latter one-touched it into the back of the net to put Wooster on the scoreboard. It marked newcomer Ndiaye's first collegiate goal.
The Scots will look to build off of their solid effort against a nationally-ranked team when they begin a three-game road swing, which starts at DePauw University (6-4, 1-1 NCAC) on Saturday at noon.