OLIVET, Mich. – The Trine University men's soccer team was able to aquire their first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) win on Sunday night with a 2-0 victory at Olivet College. The win breaks a three-match losing spell.
Sophomore Tyler Murphy [Greenfield, Ind. / Greenfield Central] was able to find the back of the net in the 78th minute of play, and Alhasan Yahya [Melvindale, Mich. / Melvindale] added a penalty kick in the 88th minute.
Trine now sits at 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA with the win. Olivet falls to 3-7 and 1-1.
Both teams had opportunities in the opening minutes, with Connor Malmquist [Valparaiso, Ind. / Morgan Township] and Brian Morris [Metamora, Mich. / Lapeer] forcing the keeper to make saves with shots on net.
Malmquist, Murphy and Morris peppered the net with shots in the 25th, 26th and 27th minutes, and the offensive attack led to a turning point of the match. An Olivet defender received a red card in the 30th minute that allowed Trine to be up a man the final 60 minutes of play. An assistant coach for the Comets was also disqualified via the red card.
Olivet was able to keep the Thunder off the board heading into halftime, but the man advantage was just too much to keep Trine quiet the entire night.
The Thunder outshot the Comets 10-1 in the second half, and took five corner kicks compared to just two for the home squad.
The score by Murphy in the 78th minute was his team-high ninth goal of the season, the most by a Thunder men's soccer player since 2018-19. Yahya netted his second goal of the year, first by penalty kick.
Troy Saylor [Caledonia, Mich. / Caledonia] kept the clean sheet for Trine with three saves.
The Thunder continue conference action on Wednesday, October 13 with a home match against Hope College.