Ohio Wesleyan 5, McMurry 0
Capital 6, Grove City 2

Sept. 5, 2008

Junior midfielder Jordan Halloran (Springfield/Catholic Central) started off the Bishop offense with 2 goals and freshman midfielder Travis Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) wrapped up the scoring with 2 goals of his own as eighth-ranked Ohio Wesleyan defeated McMurry (Texas) in the first round of the annual adidas® Invitational on Friday at Roy Rike Field.

Ohio Wesleyan will face Grove City at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the tournament's second round. Saturday's opening game matches McMurry against Capital, with that game set for a 5 p.m. kickoff.

After a couple of near-misses, including one shot that hit the post, the Bishops jumped on top when sophomore back Eric Laipple (Westerville/South) crossed the ball from the right side to the left post, where Halloran headed it home in the ninth minute of play.

Halloran made it 2-0 in the 16th minute when he drove the ball into the box, faked a McMurry defender and McMurry keeper Leeland Karpf, and buried a shot into the right side of the McMurry goal.

McMurry back William Westbrook was assessed a red card, his second card of the game, at the 29:16 mark, and sophomore forward Tyler Wall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Ohio Wesleyan a 3-0 lead.

Travis Wall increased the Bishop lead to 4-0 when he dribbled through a pair of McMurry defenders and found the back of the net in the 40th minute.

In the second half, Travis Wall finished off the night's scoring. Ohio Wesleyan was awarded an indirect kick about 25 yards from the McMurry goal, and senior back T.J. Trigg (Westerville/North) played the ball to Wall, who hit it on a line into the back of the net with exactly 10:00 left in regulation time.

Ohio Wesleyan outshot McMurry, 36-5. Freshman Steve Gobel (Wilbraham, Mass./Loomis Chaffee (Conn.)) had 1 save in completing the shutout for the Bishops. Karpf finished with 8 saves, while Curtis Crocker was not tested during the final 10 minutes of action.

In Friday's opener, Capital's Joey Snyder scored a pair of goals to break a 2-2 tie and start the Crusaders on their way to a win over Grove City.

Capital had taken a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of action, with Tyler Mowbray heading home a crossing pass from Steven McCarthy in the fourth minute, then Mowbray returning the favor by setting up McCarthy on a goal in the ninth minute.

The Wolverines fought back with a pair of goals 4 minutes apart, first when Chuck Witt chipped a shot into the bottom left corner of the net in the 13th minute, then evening the game at 2-2 as Evan Moore sent the ball into the box to Zack Barzanty, who settled the ball, turned and fired a shot into the back of the Capital net.

Snyder answered with a goal from the right side in the 27th minute, putting Capital ahead to stay, then added to the lead with a 20-yard laser in the 35th minute.

The Crusaders added second-half goals by Kevin Doran and Michael Gregory.

Capital outshot Grove City, 28-10. Justin Bultman had 6 saves for Capital, while Tim Lansing had 12 saves for the Wolverines.

Ohio Wesleyan-McMurry Box Score
Capital-Grove City Box Score