October 17, 2006
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's soccer team played host to the Falcons of Taylor University-Fort Wayne in a sloppy afternoon affair that left the field marred with divots and patches of mud on Tuesday, October 17. Fortunately, the defacing of the field was at the expense of the visitors as the Beavers took advantage of a depleted Taylor-FW roster, winning by a margin of 5-0.
JUSTIN "BOBBY" ROHRER (Millersburg/West Holmes) put matters to rest early with a natural hat trick by the 19th minute. His first tally was in minute six as he cleaned up a scramble in the box and deposited the ball in net. Just ten minutes later (16th minute), Rohrer danced around two defenders to knock in his second of the game and the cheering had barely died down as he completed the hat trick off of a nice feed from NATE FLATH(Wadsworth/Wadsworth).
The Beavers out shot the Falcons 20-2 in the first half and held a commanding 8-2 edge in shots on goal. Easily the best chance Taylor-Ft. Wayne produced in the first half was a free kick just outside the box that beat the defense with a header only to be denied with a miraculous diving save by JUSTIN SHEARER (Loudonville/Loudonville) as he skipped the ball over the crossbar with his head.
The second half was more of the same ball control domination as the bench emptied and everyone took part in the match. Flath completely deflated any hopes of a comeback by dribbling through several defenders and ripping a shot to the upper right corner of the frame to push the lead to four goals in the 52nd minute. Rounding out the scoring, PHIL KEELER(Bluffton/Bluffton) played the opportunist as he tapped in a cross from CYRUS WEIGAND(Akron/St. Vincent - St. Mary) that was dummied near the top of the box in the 62nd minute.
Finishing the goal and completing the season's first shutout was senior net minder RYAN THOMAS (Jamestown/Greenview). Congratulations to the men on a third consecutive home victory which upped their record to 3-10.
Bluffton returns to the pitch to test its winning streak against HCAC power Rose-Hulman on Saturday, Oct. 21st. The home match is slated to start at 3 p.m.