In a contest in which every goal was scored in the opening 10 minutes, senior Jeremiah Rader scored twice in a two-minute span to force an eventual 2-2 draw with the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars on Wednesday evening.
MVNU’s Rene Diaz opened the scoring in the 5th minute of play, but Rader found the equalizer just 15 seconds later off of a great feed from Peter Linn. Linn set a pass 35 yards towards the 18-yard box, and Rader was able to get his foot on the ball and fire it into the net.
90 seconds later, Rader struck again, this time on a penalty kick. The senior was pushed in the box going for a header, setting up the attempt. Rader made no mistake, placing the ball in the right hand corner of the net to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
The Trojans’ advantage lasted all of 2:41, as Tim Kasparek scored the final goal of the contest at the 9:56 mark.
The Trojans played down a man for nearly 55 minutes, but despite this, they turned away every other scoring opportunity throughout the rest of the match.
MVNU led Taylor in shots, 25-9, but both teams came away with five shots on net. For Taylor, Rader led the way with five shot attempts, while Linn, James McBride, Alex Gallup, and Clay Vander Kolk each had one attempt.
Taylor finished the season tied for third place in the Crossroads League standings, and will square off again with MVNU on Wednesday, October 31 in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals.
