
As the 2017 regular season nears its finish line, the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team is in a battle for the fourth and final postseason spot in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
The Yellow Jackets missed an opportunity to gain ground in the playoff picture Saturday, Oct. 21, with a 3-0 loss to Grove City College at John F. Wiley Stadium.
Waynesburg has been missing a few key pieces Saturday with sophomore midfielders, Justin Buberl and Nate Biondi suspended, and junior goalkeeper James Snyder out for the season. Working with a depleted roster, head coach Brad Heethuis was not discouraged with Saturday’s effort.
“There were definitely some good portions of the game, and there’s some stuff we have to work on,” Heethuis said. “Being a little shorthanded, I was pretty happy with how we played, how we fought. Grove City’s always a tough side. It was interesting to see how we would match up with them, how we would come out with new energy that day.”
Grove City drew first blood a little over 23 minutes into the game, when sophomore forward Christian Caporaso headed a chip from senior defender Tyler Snow for his fourth goal of the season to make it 1-0.
It didn’t take long for the Wolverines to add insurance. Less than two minutes after the first tally, junior Franklin Tropiano made it 2-0. For Waynesburg junior forward Austin Zurik, the second goal was a crushing blow.
“Even after [Grove City] scored [its] first goal, we still believed we could win; we just had to get back to our game plan,” Zurik said. “They ended up scoring a second within two minutes, and that really just kind of killed our momentum and morale. So I think that kind of played a part into it, kind of like everyone put their heads down immediately.”
Grove City held that 2-0 lead for the rest of the first half. The Wolverines outshot the Jackets 14-5 overall and 7-4 in shots on net in the first 45 minutes.
With less than ten minutes remaining in the game, Tropiano finished the scoring with his second goal of the afternoon, with an assist from Caporaso. With the two tallies Saturday, Tropiano moved into a tie for the team lead with six on the season.
Grove City ended up outshooting Waynesburg 29-11 overall and 10-6 in shots on goal. For Heethuis, the Wolverines abundance of chances were a result of their attacking quality.
“They moved the ball quite well,” Heethuis said. “If the ball went out of bounds, they were ready. They had everything set up, and they were trying to come at us as quickly as possible.”
Wolverines sophomore goalkeeper Malcolm Burke saved sixth shots on his way to his third consecutive clean sheet and fifth overall on the season. For Waynesburg, freshman Adam Dolan allowed three goals on ten shots. Heethuis was pleased with Dolan’s performance.
“[Dolan] did a pretty good job,” Heethuis said. “He had to face quite a bit [of shots], but he made a couple of really nice saves for us to keep the scoreline what it was.”
Waynesburg came into Saturday’s game having not played in a week. While the women’s team played at Chatham four days prior, the men had a longer layoff due to the Cougars not having a men’s soccer program. Although Heethuis said that the layover might have been a factor, he did not see it as an alibi.
“I mean it’s certainly a possibility, but [rust] is not an excuse we’ll use,” Heethuis said. “Every guy’s team in the PAC at some point has the ‘Chatham break,’ and unless you put a match in there, everyone has to deal with it.”
Waynesburg is now 5-7-2 overall, and 3-3 in PAC play, while Grove City is 8-4-4 overall and 4-1-1 in conference play. Waynesburg’s next game will be against Geneva (11-3-2, 5-1-1), Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. at John F. Wiley Stadium. The Yellow Jackets will finish off their regular season Saturday, Oct. 28. Waynesburg is in a tie with Westminster for the fourth playoff spot. For Heethuis, self-control will be the key to success in the final two regular-season games.
“I think it comes down to that composure… whatever happens – do your job,” Heethuis said. “You can’t do somebody else’s job. You can’t win a game or lose a game by yourself. Soccer is a team game. So we need those guys who have been in big games before to kind of step up and lead our younger guys, but also get everyone on the same page and be ready to play these last two games.”