Taylor Drops Tight Contest with RV Benedictine

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor entered Monday's clash with RV Benedictine (1-1) in search of the first 4-1 start in program history and nearly had it, before the visiting Ravens scored the day's final three tallies to escape with a 10-8 victory.

The afternoon started with dominant defense on both sides, with neither side scoring until BC found the net at the 8:05 mark for the only score of the first quarter.

Taylor's attack came to life at the start of the second, fueled by a three minute non-releasable equipment penalty on the guests that turned into a two-man advantage with a second penalty. TU unleashed six shots during that stretch but came away empty after two shots bounced off the post and two more point-blank looks were stopped by the Ravens' keeper.

After fighting off the TU advantage, Benedictine pushed the lead to 2-0 but Taylor countered 35 seconds later with Will Vanderkodde finding Jack Kaiser to get TU on the board.

The offensive tempo picked up from there, with the two teams finding their rhythm and pushing the pace on the way to a 4-3 BC lead at the break.

Taylor had its best stretch deep into the third in response to a 7-5 deficit, getting goals from Harris, Henry Cooper and Vanderkodde to take its first lead of the day at 8-7 less than 30 seconds in the final period.

BC scored the equalizer just moments later and ended the game on a 3-0 run to pull out the 10-8 win.

Taylor got two goals each from Harris and Will Saxby, with Jackson Dale adding one score and three helpers.

David Celesti was outstanding with 14 faceoff wins in 20 chances and added eight ground balls, while Ben Harrell continued his strong play with 11 saves.

Taylor (3-2) will look to bounce right back into the win column when it hosts Midland (0-2) on Thursday, March 6 in a 3:00 pm start on Wheeler Field.