Men's Soccer

HCAC Spring 2021 Men’s Soccer Notebook, Week 2

CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) men’s soccer teams competed in week two of the 2021 season.
 
Around the League:
HCAC Men’s Soccer Schedule
 
Athletes of the Week:
Offensive:
Dalton Taynor (Troy, Ohio) Bluffton University | Forward | Junior - Taynor knocked in three goals for the Beavers this week. He helped Bluffton to a 2-2 tie at MSJ on Wednesday night and followed that up with two scores in Bluffton's 3-1 win at Anderson on Saturday. He finished the week with six shots, including five on frame. Saturday marked the first Bluffton victory over Anderson since 2011, snapping a string of eight straight setbacks at the hands of AU. The win at Anderson was Bluffton's first conference road victory since a 3-0 shutout of the Grizzlies at Franklin in 2017.
Defensive:
Evan Hofer (St. Louis, Mo.) Rose-Hulman institute of Technology | Goalkeeper | First-Year – Hofer helped Rose-Hulman improve to 4-0 and extended his streak of not allowing a goal to start his college career to 315 minutes, as the Fightin' Engineers shutout Franklin 1-0 and Transylvania 3-0 last week. Hofer has three solo shutouts and one shared shutout in the four wins, recording two saves against Transylvania to improve to 4-0 on his rookie season.
 
Notable Performances:
  • Rafi Ul Azam (Dhaka, Bangladesh) Earlham College | Forward | First-Year - Ul Azam scored the game-winning goal in the 74th minute to lift Earlham men’s soccer to a 2-1 home win over Anderson University on Wednesday, giving the Quakers their first victory of the season.
  • Tyler Smith (Germantown, Ohio) Earlham College | Goalkeeper | First-Year - Smith recorded seven saves over 180 minutes while leading Earlham men’s soccer to a 1-1 record last week, including the program’s first victory of the season. Smith was credited with four saves on five shots faced in the Quakers’ 2-1 home win over Anderson University on Wednesday. He closed the week with three saves in a 1-0 home loss to Manchester University on Saturday. For the week, Smith posted a 1.00 GAA with a .778 save percentage with seven total saves.
  • Clark Elliott (Brownstown, Ind.) Franklin College | Goalkeeper | Junior – Elliot turned away 12 shots over two starts in goal last week for the Grizzlies. He made a season-high eight saves in Wednesday night's match with Rose-Hulman, setting a season high and made four more saves on Saturday against Mount St. Joseph.
  • Will Bedel (Walton, Ky.) Hanover College | Goalkeeper | Senior - Bedel finished the week going 1-1 overall as the Panthers defeated Defiance 3-0. He had five total saves in goal for a 1.02 goal against average.
  • Cory Mitchell (Maitland, Fla.) Manchester University | Forward | First-Year - Mitchell came through with some heroics as Manchester won a pair of games this week to improve to 3-1 on the young season. Against Defiance on Wednesday, Mitchell provided a game-tying header in the 51st minute. As the game went into 2OT, Mitchell scored the game-winning goal off a rebound in the 108th minute to lift MU to a 3-2 triumph. Fired a total of six shots all week. MU also beat Earlham 1-0 on Saturday.
  • Jacob Dirienzo (Frankfort, Ill.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Defense | First-Year – Dirienzo scored in both Rose-Hulman victories last week, helping the Fightin' Engineers take the outright HCAC lead at 4-0. Dirienzo only fired two shots last week - but both found the back of the net. The first was the lone goal in a 1-0 win at Franklin. The second was an insurance goal in a 3-0 win over Transylvania. Dirienzo leads RHIT newcomers with two goals this season.
  • Mitchell Crispin (Cleveland, Tenn.) Transylvania University | Forward | Sophomore - The sophomore striker scored the first and go-ahead goal of the match in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Hanover to lead the Pioneers to a 1-1 week in HCAC play. Crispin put the Pioneers on the board in the eighth minute of the match to establish the lead for the rest of the afternoon for a critical road win.
  • Gino Arena (Louisville, Ky.) Transylvania University | Goalkeeper | Sophomore - The sophomore goalie totaled nine saves on the week comprising Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Hanover and a 3-0 loss to Rose-Hulman on Saturday. Arena continued Transylvania’s season-opening stretch of 180 minutes without allowing a goal with Wednesday’s win, corralling four saves in the win. Arena saved 5-of-8 shots on goal on Saturday vs. Rose-Hulman as Transylvania ultimately went the first 183 minutes of the season without allowing a goal, courtesy of Arena’s performances in goal.
Looking Forward:
HCAC Men’s Soccer Standings