Tiffin, Ohio – September 1, 2010 – In its season opener at the newly renovated Hidden Valley Field, the Heidelberg University men’s soccer team blanked Saint Vincent College with the score of 2-0. The Berg goes to 1-0 overall, while the Bearcats fall to 0-1 on the year.
With nine minutes remaining in the first half, senior Gavin McCarthy (Hilliard, Ohio / Hilliard Darby) took a free kick from the side of the box to set-up junior Michael Juart (Hilliard, Ohio / Hilliard Darby). The Bearcats’ goal keeper would block Juart’s shot attempt which gave junior Jake Reinbolt (Whitehouse, Ohio / Anthony Wayne) an opportunity for the rebound. Reinbolt would capitalize on the chance which would put Heidelberg on top 1-0. The goal marked Reinbolt’s first of his collegiate career.
"I thought we had a strong leadership performance from Reinbolt who showed great commitment to drive the team on," said head coach Brian Haley.
In the 70th minute of play, Heidelberg would add insurance on the scoreboard when McCarthy made a play off one of Saint Vincent’s players’ deflection and found junior Mike Harling (Manchester, England / Holy Cross) who then headed the ball in the back of the net to give the Berg a 2-0 lead. It was Harling’s first goal since 2008, when he was tied for first on the team with five goals on the season.
The Berg outshot St. Vincent 22-4 which included holding the Bearcats without a shot in the first half and no shots on goal for the entire game. Heidelberg’s McCarthy had a game-leading six shots for the day.
Freshmen Christian Walter (Bay Village, Ohio / Bay Village) and Erik Furst (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) had strong outings in their first collegiate match as they both recorded a shot, while Walter had one on goal.
"I thought it was a little scrappy, disjointed at times, which is normal for the opening game of the season," said Haley. "There is still a lot of work to get us playing how we want and we are certainly not satisfied with the performance, but the result was the right one in the end. We'll take it as a starting point for what we want to achieve this season."
Heidelberg returns to action when it travels to Albion College, Saturday September 4, at 2:00 p.m.