TIFFIN – The Heidelberg University men's soccer team showed off its depth in the opening game of the 2015 season. Old faces and new faces contributed to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Adrian Bulldogs on a steamy Tuesday afternoon at the Hidden Valley Soccer Complex.

The most notable new face – head coach Ryan Carruth – earned his first career win at the helm of Heidelberg soccer.

FIRST HALF

Heidelberg controlled possession throughout much of the first half, but the Student Princes struggled to put the ball on frame. Despite outshooting the Bulldogs 8-3 in the period, the game remained scoreless at half.

HU's best chance came in the 38th minute. Kyle Boone put a shot on goal with pace from 30 yards out. Adrian's goalkeeper Lino Taormina dove to his left and punched the ball over the end line.

Adrian finished the half with an offensive flurry, which featured three corner kicks in the final 90 seconds. HU goalkeeper Alex Archambeau had a dynamic save in the 44th minute, knuckling a ball over the crossbar.

SECOND HALF

Starting the period on the bench, senior captain Chris Koczak scored 25 seconds after subbing back into the contest. He corralled a loose ball in the penalty area and sent a shot toward the goal. The ball ricocheted off the post and eked over the goalline in the 63rd minute.

Buoyed by the emotional lift of the first goal, Heidelberg dialed up the intensity. Koczak added his second of the game, coming in the 74th, after receiving a cross in from the right side by senior Mitchell Papst.

Papst added his own tally in the 89th minute, hammering home a shot off the post from Koczak.  The goal was the first of his career.  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Junior goalkeeper Alex Archambeau earned his first collegiate clean sheet. He stopped all four Bulldog shots on frame, but was largely untested. The defenders in front of him – notably Lloyd Alexander, Kyle Boone, Kyle Simpson and Garrett McAfee – worked well together as a unit.

Koczak's two goals give him 28 for his career. It was his third career two-goal performance as a Student Prince.

Carruth played 20 players in the contest.

Heidelberg outshot Adrian, 22-6.

NOTABLE QUOTES 

Carruth on being able to break through in the second half: "The guys were very disciplined to keep playing our way through the second half ... We struggled to score goals in preseason so it's fun to come out in our first game and score three ... That creates excitement and confidence in the group ... Lot of positives happened."

Carruth on Koczak: "Chris is playing like a senior ... He's a senior captain who is playing with the urgency that a senior should ... He is a leader, came in one of the fittest guys in camp, he's worked extremely hard on his game. "

Carruth on Papst: "Mitch is a guy who has become a standard bearer on this team ... In the spring, he was a little outside of our plans ... He's a guy who worked hard and came in and played his way right into the squad ... He gave us 35 excellent minutes, scored a goal and probably should have had two ... His energy was fantastic."

Carruth on his squad's talent level: "I think we've showed we have a lot of depth, we had a couple guys who didn't even get in the game that are good enough to play."

UP NEXT

Heidelberg travels to Wittenberg on Friday. The Student Princes and Tigers battled to a 2-2 draw last season.