ALBION, Mich. -- The Albion College men's soccer team fell at home in a fiercely contested battle on Homecoming Weekend, as the visiting Flying Dutch of Hope College escaped Alumni Field with a narrow 2-1 win.
The Britons absorbed plenty of pressure from Hope in the first half as the Flying Dutch controlled the center of the park and pinned Albion back in its own half. The Brits stood tall against the barrage, as sophomore netminder
Tom Veresh made five saves over the opening 27 minutes to keep Hope at bay.
The visitors' pressure paid off in the 28th minute, as a headed attempt off a corner kick resulted in a 1-0 lead for Hope. Albion grew into the game as the half wore on, earning four corner kicks over the final nine minutes of the period.
Robin Ruigendijk registered a pair of shots during the Brits' extended pressure, but both went wide of the frame.
The renewed energy at the end of the first half carried over into the second half, as the Brits found their equalizer six minutes into the second stanza.
Xavier Yuille was dragged down by his defender in the 18-yard box, earning a penalty kick chance for Albion.
Esteban Mercado stepped up to the spot and calmly sent Hope's keeper the wrong way before slotting the ball into the lower left corner to tie the game with his third penalty kick marker of the season.
Albion continued to press from there, outshooting the Flying Dutch 5-3 over the half. Despite the increased pressure, Hope managed to answer with a screamer from the edge of the box to take the lead in the 68th minute.
The Britons continued to battle over the remainder of the contest. As Albion continued to press, the Brits had one final opportunity to tie up the score. Ruigendijk whipped the ball into the box off a corner kick and it made its way to
Joshua Jasinkiewicz at the far post.
The freshman fired a shot back across the goal, past Hope's goalkeeper, but a last-ditch effort on the goal line kept the attempt out of the net and preserved the win for the visitors.
The Britons ended the contest with an 11-5 advantage in corner kicks, while the Flying Dutch held a 15-11 edge in shots. Outside of Veresh who played the full 90 minutes in goal, a quartet of Britons logged full-game efforts, as
Lucas Anderson Binck-Jan Bakker,
Alex Bugingo, and Jasinkiewicz turned in full shifts.
Up Next
Albion hits the road for its next conference tilt on Tuesday, October 21, when the Britons face Calvin University at 7 pm.
