By: Lincoln Reed | Sports Editor
Sometimes, when it rains, it pours.
Ominous clouds hung over Taylor's campus on Saturday, foreshadowing a day of trouble for Trojan athletics. Ceaseless rain filled the morning and cleared as the afternoon sun peeked its way through the clouds. What had started as a dreary morning turned into an ideal, late summer afternoon.
The day of competition began when men's soccer took the field against Marygrove. Taylor started strong when sophomore Gabe Saliba completed a pass to freshman Jeremiah Rader for a goal at 8:10 in the first period. The Trojan defense held the lead for the next ten minutes until a handball led to a Marygrove penalty kick that evened the score at 1-1.
"It's just stupid things like that, that we've done all year," said head coach Gary Ross. "We're just shooting ourselves in the foot right now."
Marygrove went on to score two more goals before intermission and completed the game with a 4-1 victory. This is the second game out of the last four in which Taylor has taken an early 1-0 lead and lost the game.
The loss moves Taylor's record to 2-5-1 as the Trojans play Bethel tomorrow. Youth, inexperience and injuries have proven to be issues for the men's soccer team so far this season. Moving forward, the Trojans plan to shore up their defensive strategy and do a better job of possessing the ball.
4:00 p.m.
As the men's soccer team sauntered off the field Saturday, Taylor volleyball stepped onto the court against No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan.
"IWU is a really good team," said head coach Holly Motheral. "We would have to play very good, disciplined volleyball to beat them."
Taylor entered the matchup against the Wildcats with a game plan of aggressive offense and disciplined defense. Indiana Wesleyan ran a quick offense that required the Trojans to commit few errors to secure a win.
The first set began with a service error by Indiana Wesleyan. The Trojans capitalized on sloppy play from the Wildcats early in the first set until the score became tied 8-8. Both teams battled back and forth across the net until the Wildcats pulled away to win the first set 25-20. The next two sets featured textbook volleyball by Indiana Wesleyan. The Wildcats dominated the court in every facet of the game.
"Once we got to the game, overall, everybody was just really timid, almost scared in a way," said sophomore Becca Gerig. "It made it hard for us to execute our game plan."
Gerig and junior Kelly Arnold led the Trojans with five kills each. Taylor gathered a season-low hitting percentage of -0.017.
The Wildcats controlled the rest of the game. Trojan defenders scrambled around the court, sacrificing their bodies as Wesleyan kills and touches found their way onto open areas of the court. The Wildcats earned 80 digs and 47 kills compared to 51 digs and 20 kills for the Trojans. The third and final set ended with two attack errors by the Trojans. Taylor accumulated 22 attack errors throughout three sets.
The volleyball team looks to bounce back when they travel to Mount Vernon Nazarene today and Goshen College tomorrow.
7:00 p.m.
The lights flickered on at Turner Stadium as the sun set over the tree line on the distant edges of campus. Taylor football took the field against Division I Butler University in their fifth matchup. Taylor has yet to win against Butler-the Bulldogs have won their last four meetings with the Trojans.
Last year's Taylor vs. Butler matchup experienced a long weather delay. Lightning became a critical issue as a thunderstorm shortened the game in a 38-3 Butler victory. This year's conditions proved to be different as clear skies and crisp air provided ideal conditions for Saturday night's game.
The Trojans took a quick lead when freshman quarterback Everett Pollard connected with senior Justin Keys for a 17-yard touchdown pass. An extra point kick by freshman Austin Gunderson set the Trojans with a 7-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the quarter.
Butler scored three minutes later to tie the game at 7-7 on a 69-yard kickoff return that resulted in a touchdown. In the remaining minutes of the first quarter, the Trojans marched down the field with a 21 yard pass by Pollard to junior tight end Tyler Bosse that put the Trojans within scoring distance. Gunderson proceeded to kick a 24-yard field goal to help the Trojans regain the lead at 10-7.
"We were executing our plays," said senior wide receiver Shawn Lashbrook. "We were taking care of business as far as each one of us in our jobs. We gave up a special teams play, gave up a punt return that turned the momentum a little bit."
The second quarter started with a quick three-and-out for the Trojan offense. Butler capitalized and scored on their first drive of the quarter to make the score 14-10 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Butler held the lead for the rest of the game.
Butler out-rushed, out-passed and out-played Taylor in the remaining three quarters of play. Turnovers killed the Trojans: a total of five accumulated throughout the game. Butler rushed for 190 yards, passed for 298 and had one turnover. Taylor rushed for 79 yards and passed for 167 yards.
"I think we got away from what was working in the first quarter, especially a good mix of run and pass," Lashbrook said. "Once we started to force the issue and try to make big plays, they took advantage of it and ended up making some plays on the ball and ended up making a few interceptions, which really hurt us."
Lashbrook received 75 yards and had two tackles during Saturday night's game. Adam Sauder led the Trojans with 16 tackles and Justin Keys led the team in rushing with 65 yards.
After the final seconds waned on the clock, the score stood 41-10 in favor of Butler. The Trojans now stand 0-5 against Butler University. Taylor looks to improve their overall record of 1-2 when they travel to Olivet Nazarene tomorrow. This is the first time the Trojans will travel on the road this season.
Meanwhile somewhere in Ohio...
While Taylor football wrestled with Butler, the women's soccer team had a battle of its own in Sylvania, Ohio, Saturday night. The Trojans faced Lourdes University in more than ninety minutes of grueling soccer.
The women's soccer team took the field after a quick turnaround from their 7-1 loss against IPFW the night before. Taylor and Lourdes proved to be evenly matched as the game went scoreless through two periods of play.
"Lourdes was a really competitive team, but skill-wise we were definitely a lot better," said junior Shelbi Lowe. "We were very tired from the night before. I think that that took a huge toll. It was a tooth and nail type of game, very close."
A relentless defense and clutch saves by freshman goalkeeper Lauren Engelkes helped the Trojans stay alive. Lourdes had only two shots on goal during the 90-minute game. Both were stopped by diving efforts from Engelkes, who knocked both shots wide of the goal with one hand.
The scoreless game went into overtime. Five minutes later, senior Courtney Selle managed to cross a pass over to Lowe who headed the ball past the Lourdes goalkeeper for a game winning goal.
"That was encouraging after the thumping we took the night before," said head coach Scott Stan. "That's all you can say. It was a thumping."
The late night victory for women's soccer proved to be the silver lining on an otherwise bad day for Taylor athletics. Thanks to the overtime victory, Taylor managed to end the day on a high note despite a corporate effort of 1-3.
Moving forward, if Taylor's teams can score more points and goals than their competition, the Trojans will have an increased chance of winning.Photograph provided by TU Sports Information Department
