Senior forward Jaggar Brooker rang up a hat trick to propel the 24th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team to a 3-1 win over Hanover in the second round of the Fred Myers/adidas Invitational, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
Brooker staked the Bishops to a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Sophomore forward Christopher Guerra chipped the ball ahead to junior back Justin Carro, who centered it to Brooker for the finish in front.
Brooker converted a penalty kick in the 35th minute to increase the margin to 2-0.
The Panthers closed to within 2-1 just over 2 minutes later. Hanover was awarded a free kick not far from the right sideline, and Sean Kelly’s kick skipped through the box to Carter Marx, who tapped the ball in near the left post.
Ohio Wesleyan got the goal back in the opening minute of the second half. Junior back Brady West sent a long ball ahead to Brooker, who ran into the penalty area, cut back past a Panther defender, and found the back of the net. The hat trick was the first for the Bishops since Oct. 19, 2022, when Guerra chalked up a hat trick at Wittenberg.
“This was a good weekend,” said Bishop head coach Jay Martin. “I think we had a little bit of a letdown after the big win last night, but we were scrappy. We got 2 goals in the first half, and to get 3 goals and use a lot of players is really good for our program. Now we have 2 weeks of really good games coming up.”
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Hanover, 20-9. Senior goalkeeper Mason Taylor played the first half and sophomore Sam Whitman had 1 save during the second half.
Brooker shared the Dick Gauthier Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Carro, sophomore back Gabe O’Reilly, and West.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Sophomore forward Jaz Brooker scored the game-winning goal midway through the first half to start Ohio Wesleyan on its way to a 2-0 non-conference win over Indiana-South Bend on Sunday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
The Bishops took the lead when Brooker played the ball out to sophomore midfielder Athena Kolettis, fielded a return pass, and slipped a shot by Titan keeper Jordan Aiello.
Ohio Wesleyan added to the lead in the 72nd minute when junior defender Madison Cofer headed home a free kick by sophomore midfielder Tiffany Trinh.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot IU-SB, 40-5. Senior goalkeeper Abby Markley made 1 save.
FOOTBALL
Senior quarterback Austin Womack threw a touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jakii Alston to highlight the Ohio Wesleyan offense in a 37-10 non-conference setback against ninth-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday at Selby Stadium.
On the opening series of the game, the Falcons faced a third-and-7 but struck for 58 yards when Kaleb Blaha found Mason Van Zeeland for a first-and-goal at the OWU 7. On the next play from scrimmage, Blaha connected with Michael Krueger for a 7-yard score at the 14:06 mark of the opening quarter.
After a short punt gave the visitors the ball back at the Ohio Wesleyan 38, the Bishop defense forced a fourth-and-9 situation, but Blaha found A.J. Morrison deep for a 37-yard scoring strike and a 14-0 lead with 12:44 remaining.
The Bishops and Falcons played the remainder of the first half evenly, with the visitors adding a 33-yard field goal from Justin Scheberl later in the opening quarter and the Bishops countering with a 25-yard field goal from senior kicker Gabriel Chlebowski.
Midway through the second quarter, Blaha found Ethan Chromy on a 54-yard touchdown pass, but again, Ohio Wesleyan had an answer, taking over with 1:10 left in the half and getting a 42-yard connection from Womack to Alston. On fourth-and-1 from the UW-RF 15, Womack lofted a pass for Alston, and the Bishop receiver hauled it in to make it a 24-10 game at the half.
The Falcons assembled a 17-play, 80-yard drive during the third quarter, with Blaha going over from 5 yards out, and added a touchdown during the closing minutes of the game.
Womack completed 10 of 23 passes for 120 yards and a score, while senior quarterback Kaden Buza had 9 completions in 18 attempts for 74 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Tyler Webb caught 6 passes for 70 yards. Sophomore running back Devon Haley led the Bishops with 50 yards on 13 rushes.
Junior free safety Drew Thornton made a team-high 13 tackles and forced and recovered a fumble, while junior linebacker Seth Anderson had 12 stops.
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
