Spiegel Shines, Yoder Delivers in Thrilling Win Over Saints

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Taylor men's soccer team picked up its first win of 2023 in comeback fashion, topping the Aquinas Saints (1-1-0) 2-1 on the road Saturday evening.

Aquinas was able to strike first when standout junior Ricardo Rittersberger broke through TU's defense and scored 15 minutes in.

The defensive units of both teams held strong through the remainder of the half as the Saints took a 1-0 lead into the break.

With eight minutes gone by in the second half, Justin Devlin took a corner kick from the right side to set up Matt Yoder's header for the equalizer. It was Yoder's first collegiate goal, and a sizable contingency of Taylor fans serenaded the freshman near the corner of the playing field during the team's celebration.

The Saints threatened to retake the lead throughout much of the second half, but goalkeeper Sam Spiegel continued his stellar play of late to keep momentum on the Trojans' side. Spiegel's decisive action to leave the goal area kept Aquinas from scoring with 23 minutes left in the match, and just three minutes later he made arguably the defensive play of the game with a full-extension, leaping save to keep the match knotted.

TU had to fend off a flurry of other chances for Aquinas before it could finally have its turn on offense to decide the game's outcome. In the 79th minute, Taylor had its chance and did not waste it.

A foul on Aquinas allowed Devlin to take a free kick from approximately 25 yards out. His shot was headed toward the top left corner of the net, but it was tipped away at the last second by the Saints' keeper, setting up another corner kick for Taylor. Devlin took the kick from the same spot that set up Yoder's goal, and in a case of déjà vu, he found Yoder who once again used his head from a similar position. This time, though, Yoder's header landed at the feet of Collin Maris, who booted in the game-winning goal.

Yoder's three points (one goal, one assist) on the day marked a season-high for any Trojan, and Maris's game-winner was the defender's first of his career and first goal since 2021. Devlin recorded his second assist of the season, which have both come on corner kicks.

Spiegel picked up the win to move to 1-3-0 on the year, while he topped his season-high seven saves on Wednesday with eight today. The senior also picked up his 150th career save in the match, as he now sits at 155.

Taylor (1-3-0) returns home next week for a pair of matches at Turner Stadium. The first one kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 5 p.m. against Saint Xavier (1-0-3).