From September 17th, 2022

WAYNESBURG (Sept. 17) – This past Saturday Baldwin Wallace defeated the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team 4-2 in what was the Yellow Jackets last non conference game before the start of Presidents’ Athletic Conference play. 

Baldwin Wallace came out of the gates flying, finding the back of the net just 28 seconds into the game through Tommy Buser, who went on to score again just 20 minutes later to give his team a 2-0 lead. 

The first half scoring did not stop there for Baldwin Wallace (6-0-1), as they would win a penalty kick just three minutes later that was finished by Michael Tusick, sending Waynesburg (2-3-2) into halftime trailing by three. 

“Over halftime we got pretty fired up as the game was obviously not going well and we were not playing very well at all,” Waynesburg senior forward Sam Hawkins said. “We made sure we went back out on the field to play our game, not theirs.” 

Waynesburg would come out and start the second half strong, scoring in the first five minutes courtesy of Luke Griffith. 

“We needed to dictate play and come out with fire, which I think we did a good job of,” Hawkins said. 

The Yellow Jacketscut the Baldwin Wallace lead to one after Hawkins beat the goalkeeper himself in the 78th minute. It was Hawkins third goal of the season in only seven games. 

“I’m definitely very happy to be scoring some good goals for the team,” Hawkins said. 

Hawkins, who only had six total goals last season, is well on pace to break that. 

“Scoring three already before heading into PAC play has me feeling confident in my ability, but hungry for more,” Hawkins said. “I want to keep the momentum going and will do anything I can to help the team win.”

Hawkins goal gave the team confidence to then go for the game tying goal. Baldwin Wallcae, however, was able to weather the Yellow Jacket storm and eventually put the game on ice through a Brandon Garibotti goal with only five minutes left in the game. 

The loss puts the Jackets at a 2-3-2 record as they look to improve a few things.

“As a team we are looking to improve on how we start each half as we have to become more consistent in how we start,” Hawkins said. “There needs to be a sense of urgency the entire game and we have to get on the front foot and I think if we can do that and keep everyone healthy we can do great things in conference play.”

The Jackets next time out will be against PAC foe Franciscan at John F. Wiley Stadium with kickoff scheduled at 8 p.m.