Hectic Finish Spoils Taylor’s Upset Bid

UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor men's soccer team (5-5-2, 1-3-1 CL) battled its way to a near-victory Saturday at home versus RV Huntington (10-3-1, 4-1) in a defensive clash that was spoiled in the match's waning 10 minutes, leading to a 2-1 loss.

Defending its own half of the pitch almost exclusively through the game's opening 23 minutes, gritty play from TU limited promising opposition opportunities, resulting in nine denied Forester shots. Three of those shots required saves from Sam Spiegel, including a momentum-swinging, sliding stop the senior made in the 23rd minute.

A minute later, the Trojans were in business when they recorded their first shot off the foot of Carlos Sanabria.

Still in HU's end in the 27th minute, a foul in the box set up a penalty kick for Justin Devlin. The junior snuck it past the diving Huntington goalkeeper for his third score and team-leading 10th point of the season.

The remainder of the half was played relatively evenly, with TU generating a shot on goal from Elias Munoz and a corner kick before time expired.

Huntington had the first opportunities of the second half, but Taylor's defense continued to stand tall as the physicality of the match picked up.

Still at 1-0, the Foresters were able to combine twice for goals at the 80- and 85-minute marks right in front of the Trojan net in devastating blows to the hosts.

Whistles continued to fly during a wild and increasingly tense final portion of the match, and Taylor used an offsides call on Huntington to switch the field and go for a last-gasp shot at an equalizer.

The TU faithful erupted when a Devlin free kick from 35 yards out with under two minutes remaining was played into the box, headed and then booted in, but an offsides call waved off the goal and essentially ended the match.

Spiegel racked up four saves on the night, while four-of-six Trojan shot attempts were on frame.

Taylor concludes its homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. when it hosts cross-county rival, No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan (12-1, 4-1 CL).