Last Non-Conference Game (ONU vs Trine)

   Today, in the last non-conference game of the season, Ohio Northern Men's Soccer competed against Trine University. ONU's record going into the game was 5-2-1 and Trine's was 5-3-0, so based on the teams' records it was going to be a very even match. The Polar Bears were hoping for a win to get them back on track for the conference schedule after a tough-fought tie against nationally ranked Carnegie Melon the game before.

    Despite needing a win, during warm-ups of the game the ONU team did not have the energy it needed to be prepared for the game. The coaches noticed and warned the players that it wasn't going to be good enough to win the game. Although the warning was needed, it didn't prove to help much as ONU started the game off very slow. The common theme of not producing enough in the attacking half also continued. Regardless of all this, Trine was still not dominating the game by any means. ONU was just not playing their best soccer, and this came back to bite them with only 5 minutes left in the first half when Trine took a lead 1-0. ONU now had to chase another game and it didn't come before halftime. During the break, the message from the coaches was very brief relaying that the performance simply was not good enough. Everybody knew this so the players just needed to change their mentality in the second half. At the start of the second half, ONU started off much better. They came out with much higher energy and were starting to put pressure on Trine. The Bears were dominating but still missing a goal to show for it. That is until 11 minutes remaining in the game, they got their goal. This goal boosted ONU to a new level of energy, and they were ready to fight for the winning goal. The team was going on attack after attack for the rest of the time and after a few close moments, the game ended in a 1-1 tie. This result was not what ONU was hoping for, but they were happy to at least show some grit and come out with the tie. Their next game comes on the weekend when they play Mount Union.

Go Bears!