RICHMOND, IND. -- Earlham's goal in the 59th minute ended up being the only offense in an important Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday, handing the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology men's soccer team its first conference loss of the season in a 1-0 setback.
The Quakers' (10-8, 6-2 HCAC) Ameer Yusuf struck for his ninth goal of the season via an assist from Michael Nsoesie early in the second half to break a scoreless tie. Despite outshooting the Quakers 11-10, the Engineers were unable to connect for a score in a tough matchup on the road.
The Engineers (8-5-4, 5-1-2 HCAC) now need a win or a draw in their final regular-season match against Manchester Saturday to clinch a bid into the four-team HCAC Tournament, set to begin Nov. 5.
Junior keeper Drew Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick) stopped five Earlham shots in Wednesday's setback and teammate Will Senat (Edmond, Okla./North) led Rose-Hulman in shots with four.
The Engineers will host their senior day -- honoring Senat, Drew Belk (Jasper, Ind./Jasper), Mike Schiff (Martinsville, Ind./Mooresville), Alec Houpt (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton), Marshall Ishmael (Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut), Spencer Johnson (Yorkville, Ill./Aurora Christian), Max Brown (Atlanta, Ga./Chamblee Charter) and Ben Green (Frisco, Texas/Centennial) -- against Manchester (3-12-2, 2-6) Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. at the Intramural Field.
