ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Ursinus Men's Soccer team rallied to defeat Muhlenberg on the road on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference action by a score of 2-1.
With the win, the Bears improved to 8-5-1 overall plus 4-3 in Centennial play and picked up a pivotal three points in the Centennial Conference standings. Meanwhile, Mules fall to 6-6-2 overall and 1-5-1 in conference action.
The Mules struck quickly in the eighth minute as Taylan Akdag opened the scoring with a goal to put Muhlenberg up 1-0. The Mules continued to control play early on in the first half as they registered two more shots in the opening 16 minutes. Senior Kevin Devlin registered the Bears first shot of the game in the 23rd minute on a strike that was blocked in front of the net. Muhlenberg nearly extended its lead in the first half after tallying two good scoring chances. The Mules had a shot saved by Bears junior goalkeeper Tyler Lewin in the 28th minute before hitting the crossbar on a shot in the 35th minute. Despite the chances, the Bears began to get better looks on the net as time in the first half began to wind down. First-year Patrick Tormey got the Bears on the board with 2:26 left in the first half with a shot that was ripped top left of the Mules goalkeeper. Following a free kick into the box, senior Simbarashe Kanjanda made a diving cross to the center that went off a Mules defender head, and right to a wide open Tormey.
Lewin turned away a Mules header in the 61st minute before junior Marco Grenda had a header of his own saved a minute later. However, Grenda was not to be denied on his next shot attempt as he put the Bears in front at 2-1 with a goal in the 67th minute. Grenda led a rush on the Mules goal and sent his initial pass to sophomore Tommy Mollis in the left corner of the box. Mollis ripped a shot that went off the crossbar and bounced right to Grenda to tap into the net. Ursinus had two more good scoring chances in the two minutes following the goal that were both saved. The Mules made one last surge in the final 10 minutes that nearly resulted in a game-tying goal. Lewin sent a Mules header in front of the net high in the 84th minute, and a second header from Muhlenberg in the 85th minute went off the cross bar. The Mules had one last look with 45 seconds in regulation, but Lewin came up huge again by turning away a free kick sent in from Akdag to preserve the Bears win.
The Mules held a 14-7 advantage in shots during the contest and a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. Muhlenberg also held a slight edge in corner kicks at 3-2. Lewin earned the win after making six saves during the full 90 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Mules goalkeeper Zach Matik suffered the loss after making three saves in the full time.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 23rd as they will host No. 17 Franklin & Marshall for senior day at 12 p.m