Both the men’s and women’s soccer team controlled all 90 minutes of their games on Saturday, combining to outscore their opponents 6-1 as each team proved victorious.
The women’s team set the tone early, defeating NAIA foe Bethel 2-1. After a scoreless first half, Anderson finally broke through in the 56th minute when Katie Frazer found the back of the net for her first goal of the season. Emily Buchman picked up the assist on the goal.
“We went into halftime discouraged,” Frazer said. “We knew this team was beatable. Focusing on the details and playing as a unit were key to our success in the last 45 minutes.”
Freshman Tori Baver scored her first collegiate goal in the 65th minute to extend the AU lead.
Bethel added a meaningless goal in the 83rd minute after the contest had been decided and many AU starters were on the sideline.
The men’s team came out of the gates even more emphatically, jumping on visiting Blackburn from the start. Wes Erny, debuting in the starting lineup, scored his first collegiate goal in the 10th minute, igniting the Raven rout.
Jacob Pokorski added a goal on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute. The first half drew to a close with the Ravens leading 2-0.
A Blackburn own goal gave Anderson a 3-0 lead a little over a minute into the second half. Daniel Collins scored the final goal for the Ravens, a left-footed strike at the far post to beat Blackburn’s keeper.
Three Raven keepers combined for the clean sheet, with Brandon Weer, Ben Lapham and Michael Clemens all seeing time in goal.
The dominant win on Parent’s Day was especially impressive considering the Ravens were coming off of an exhausting 2-2 double-overtime tie against Wittenburg on Friday.