Box Score Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day 2017 with a regular-season conference championship and a convincing 2-0 victory over the Bluffton Beavers at Pat Deacon Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The victory pushes the Pioneers final regular season record to 15-1 overall and 8-1 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, as the Pioneers secured the regular-season Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship crown, its first since the 2015 season.
In a pregame ceremony, the Pioneers honored a group of eight seniors that included Riley Calhoon,
Jacob Gantt, Josh Morgan, Wilson Martin, Andrew Carter, Jacob Hill, Nick Favaro, and Nathan Tippenhauer.
The Pioneers jumped out of the gate looking to put the Beavers away early as sophomore forward Alex Shkraba scored a beautiful top-shelf goal off of a pass from Favaro just 80 seconds into the match.
Moments later, the combination of seniors Calhoon and Martin connected to put the Pioneers on top 2-0. The goal was Calhoon's HCAC-leading 15th of the season.
With a comfortable lead in tow, the Pioneers were content to possess the ball throughout the rest of the game as Transylvania Head Coach Matt Vogel went deep into his bench early and often.
The Transylvania defense has been dominant throughout the season, and Saturday was no different. Even with a steady stream of reserves receiving large chunks of playing time, the Pioneers held the Beavers to only one shot on the day in comparison to 35 shots for the Pioneers.
Sophomore goalkeeper Drew Grisham picked up the victory on Saturday afternoon as Transylvania earned its 11th shutout of the season.
Up next, the No. 1 seeded Pioneers will host the No. 4 Manchester Spartans the HCAC Semifinals on Wednesday night, November 1. The game is set for 7:00 p.m. at Pat Deacon Stadium. The winner will move on to next Saturday's championship match and a shot at the conference's automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Tournament.
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