OCU Battles Back but Falls at Asbury 2-1

WILMORE, KY - The NCCAA #2 ranked Traiblazers traveled south to Kentucky on Friday evening to open their 2011 season.  OCU took on the NAIA affiliated Eagles of Asbury University in what proved to be a nailbiter until the final whistle.  Asbury came out of the gate quickly to gain momentum and work their way into a penalty kick situation just five minutes into the contest.  Asbury Junior Trent Popp converted the penalty kick for his first of two goals in the opening nine minutes of play to give Asbury an early 2-0 lead.

The OCU defense regrouped and showed heart and tremedous poise as they battled back and would not allow a goal for the remaining 81 minutes.  The Trailblazer offense answered the call when Jimmy Galvan went upper 90 from 18 yards to score the first OCU goal of the season to make the score 2-1 in the 28th minute.

The Ohio Christian defense continued to tighten the reigns on Asbury in the 2nd half and the game became a battle of possession.  The Blazers, trailing by one, rallied for a late game surge and looked to battle back to tie the game in the closing minutes.  A late game shot attempt by Emmanuel Harris was just wide of the goal with just a few ticks remaining on the official clock.  The OCU comeback would fall short as Asbury would hang on to win 2-1 in a very tightly contested matchup.

"We came out sluggish today but I felt we fought hard after settling in," said head coach Josh Murton.  "We also got to see more of who we are at a high level of play.  Asbury is a solid team who will improve from last years record no doubt."

The Trailblazers(0-1) are back in action on September 3rd, when they travel to Kentucky to take on St. Catharine College at 3:00PM.