Second half dooms Foresters

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Huntington men's soccer team suffered a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to #RV Indiana Tech Wednesday night at the Warrior Athletic Complex.

Since 2016, these two squads have faced each other every year with the only exception in 2020. The Warriors have enjoyed the upper hand of this neighborly non-conference rivalry by holding a 5-2 record over HU.

The early indicators of tonight's match would have suggested the Foresters were on course to change the trajectory of their recent encounters with Tech by way of Joao Ratinho. The junior forward came off the bench to score twice within a three-minute span to bolt his team in front 2-0 just before halftime.

Unfortunately, Lawson and crew learned firsthand that no lead is too safe as the hosts stayed the course to eventually mount an epic comeback. After a Tech goal early in the second half, things were tied up 2-2 by the 65th minute to place the game up for grabs.

With 12 minutes to go, the Warriors found back netting again to take over the lead for a come-from-behind win that will not soon be forgotten by either team but for very different reasons.

Shots favored Tech 16-10. They finished with ten shots on frame to HU's four. Corner kicks also favored the hosts 6-2.

"We are all disappointed with tonight's result after playing some of our best soccer to date in the first half," noted Coach Russ Lawson. "We are going to learn from this and keep moving forward."

With this loss, the Foresters drop to 3-2-3. HU is on the road again on Saturday to face Lawrence Tech at 7:00 p.m. before kicking off conference play at home on September 23 against Goshen.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 154 NAIA All-America honors and 501 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.