Matthew Kelly

WOOSTER, Ohio – Chewy Gordon's goal in the 80th minute earned Capital University its sixth-consecutive win as the Crusaders took down The College of Wooster 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon at Carl Dale Field.

Wooster (2-5-1) pressured high to start the game, managing two early shots on goal from seniors Kieffer Hessler and Marco Sapien, meanwhile forcing Capital goalkeeper Justin Niswonger to maintain a vigilant presence from the start.  

As the half continued, Capital (6-1-0) enjoyed the lion's share of possession but found themselves coming up against a resilient Fighting Scots defense.

The Wooster backline, led by central defender Matthew Kelly, kept the Crusaders at bay in the first half, allowing one shot on goal, though conceding into its own third often as the Scots gave up five corner kicks in the first 45 minutes.

The deadlock was broken in the 80th minute when a backwards pass to Wooster goalkeeper Will Collis took an unfortunate bounce, resulting in a misplay of the ball as Capital's Gordon pounced on the miscue to put it away from six yards out.

The Crusaders packed it in afterwards, allowing only one shot in the final 10 minutes of play as Wooster sophomore Alex Montalbano struck one from outside the 18-yard-box, only to be blocked by a pressuring defenseman.

Collis finished with five saves, while Capital tallied 17 total shots on the day.

Wooster finished with six total shots, four of them occurring in the first half.

The Crusaders sustained a physical presence throughout the match, recording 14 fouls compared to four from the Scots.

Wooster returns to Carl Dale Field on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., as the Scots get set to open its North Coast Athletic Conference slate against Hiram College (2-3-2) in the second game of a men's and women's soccer doubleheader.