ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian men's soccer team enters the penultimate week of the regular-season still looking for its win against a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) opponent. The Bulldogs will have two chances to claim that elusive victory this week, starting with the season's final road match at Trine on Tuesday.
The Thunder (6-7-1, 1-2-1 MIAA) opened the 2021 campaign 5-3 before taking on a grueling three-game stretch that included NCAA Division I contenders Notre Dame and Indiana, as well as nationally-ranked conference-foe, Calvin.
Most recently, Trine suffered its second in-league loss of the season on the road at Kalamazoo.
Despite their up and down season, the Thunder still boast one the MIAA's most prolific scorers in Tyler Murphy. The sophomore is currently tied for the second-most goals in the conference (10), while sitting with the third-most total points (21).
Furthermore, Murphy's shot total of 32 ranks fifth in the league.
In goal, fellow sophomore Troy Saylor, who is credited for three of the Thunder's six victories, actively ranks second the MIAA with 56 saves en route to a 0.709 save percentage.
Tuesday's match-up is slated for a 4 p.m. start in Angola, Indiana.
Then, on Saturday, Adrian begins its season-ending homestand against the Scots of Alma College.
The Scots (2-11, 0-4 MIAA) are in the midst of a five-game losing skid that includes their first four conference matches.
As a team, Alma has only produced nine goals, which is just one above Olivet in the conference standings.
Matthew Przeplora, Sandro Suffredini and Ethan Swartzentruber are responsible for two goals each for the Scots, while the later paces the team in overall scoring with his additional three assists.
As for the Bulldogs' (2-11-2, 0-4 MIAA), the black and gold are hoping to snap a three-game scoreless drought that began after a 3-1 loss at Hope on October 5.
Justin Sarka and Danta Perri lead the Adrian offense with four and two goals, respectively. Then, there are seven other 'Dogs on the scoresheet with one goal, including
Gary Davison,
Braiden Hamilton,
Aaron Kennedy and
Robbie Precious, who each also have one assist.
In-between the posts, the locals have garnered strong efforts from both
Alex Brock and
Jackson Vacca. In fact, Brock has maintained the top spot in the MIAA in total saves for a majority of the 2021 season. He currently sports a 0.732 save percentage with 71 saves.
Saturday's action is scheduled to kick-off at 12 p.m. from Docking Stadium.
Live stats and video will be available for both of this week's matches.
