BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's soccer team is excited for a 2021 fall campaign that will be Head Coach Robert Richardson's second at the helm. The Beavers will have been off the pitch for less than five months when the men welcome Campbellsville University Harrodsburg on Wednesday, Sept. 1. COVID-19 pushed the 2020 season to the spring and Bluffton showed its grit with a 2-6-2 mark while battling a multitude of injuries to key personnel.
Dalton Taynor (Troy/Miami East) sits in the top ten of multiple program categories heading into his senior year. He has 49 points (7th all-time) and 22 goals (6th all-time) and Taynor was the first player in five years to receive All-Ohio honors for his performances during the 2019 season. The two-time All-HCAC honoree led the conference with 12 goals and 29 points as a sophomore.
Jacob Kiger (Groveport/St. Charles Prep) has played in 42 matches, scoring nine goals with seven assists heading into his final season for the Beavers. He found the back of the net twice in the spring after scoring 15 points (5 goals-5 assists) as a sophomore. Fellow senior Jackson Heffernan (Mount Vernon) has seen action in 49 matches with 31 career starts on his resume. Also returning is Brandon DeCoursey (Bruceville, IN/North Knox) who played in 18 matches as a freshman in 2019.
Junior Elijah Grieser (Wauseon/Pettisville) led the Beavers with eight points last season. He tallied five assists and two goals in 2019. Grant Ingham (Lebanon) has been a cornerstone for the Bluffton midfield, playing in all 29 matches his first two years.
Juniors Max Kennedy (Strongsville/Strongsville), Evan Hill (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson), Max Pierce (Middletown, OH/Lebanon), Dru Arrasmith (Xenia/Greenview), Stephen Liptak (Uniontown, OH/Hoover) and Andrew Bowers (Perrysburg) will be counted on for even more production as Coach Richardson tackles year two at Bluffton University.
Sophomores Elijah Zimmerman (Archbold) and Aaron Stearns (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) moved into the starting lineup midway through the 2021 spring season and they gained valuable experience with Zimmerman working up front and Stearns making a name for himself on defense. Zimmerman hit paydirt in Bluffton's 4-1 shellacking of Anderson in the HCAC tournament matchup at Alumni Field.
Also seeing action for the Beavers in the spring were Garrett Heitkamp (Jackson Center) and Andrew Klepek (Sylvania/Southview). With nearly half the team comprised of first-year players and another six in year two, Coach Richardson will need to see the freshmen hit the ground running in 2021.
Following the home opener with Campbellsville University Harrodsburg on Wednesday, Sept. 1, the Beavers will welcome Emory & Henry, Coach Richardson's last stop before making the move to Bluffton in 2020. Heartland Conference action kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 29, when long-time rival Defiance College comes to town. Bluffton travels to Manchester University for the regular season capper on Oct. 27, with the HCAC tournament opening up that weekend.
-BEAVERS-