WILMORE, Ky. -- In their first outing since the sudden passing of their teammate, Cristian Melendez the Midway men's soccer team was back in action on Thursday night when they battled Asbury (Ky.) in a River States Conference matchup.
With heavy hearts and emotions running high, the Eagles took to the field for the first time since they lost one of their own earlier this week.
Unfortunately for Tim Wolz's squad, the result didn't pan out the way they would have liked, but it provided a break from the grieving as they focused on the task at hand.
"Playing the game, we thought was good because it took our player's minds and our fan's minds off things for 90 minutes," said Wolz. "Cristian would have wanted us to play the game, so we honored him by doing what he would've wanted."
Wolz added, "there's no other team I would've wanted to play than Asbury. They know us so well and their program is a true class act."
Asbury – who was gracious enough to hold a moment of silence before the introduction of starting lineups in honor of Melendez – took a 3-0 lead at half before adding on two goals in the second half en route to the 5-0 victory.
Midway came out firing in the early going standing toe-to-toe with Asbury. Brandon Ballard (Harrodsburg, Ky.) put two shots on frame, while Drew Blaydes (Midway, Ky.) and Thomas Sidebottom (Bardstown, Ky.) each put one, but all four shots were stopped.
Asbury's stiff defense withstood the early pressure and began applying pressure of their own in the early going. Jared Howard (Danville, Ky.) stopped the first three shots, but a goal from Sammy Abraham in the 16th minute lifted Asbury to the early 1-0 lead.
The home squad added a pair of goals on set pieces in the 41st and the 42nd minutes – just 59 seconds apart from one another. The Eagles executed both set pieces to perfection as Fionn McCartan scored both goals pushing Asbury's lead to 3-0 at intermission.
Midway looked as though they were going to add a goal right before the halftime buzzer sounded, but it wasn't meant to be. Max Noel (Paris, France) pushed forward from his center back position and led the Blue and Gold on a counter attack.
Noel approached goal forcing Asbury net-minder, Brian Wood to come out of goal. Noel placed his shot well, but Wood made a diving save to preserve the 3-0 lead at halftime for his team.
Midway would have a couple of chances to score in the second stanza, but their opportunities were few and far between. Sidebottom and Jacob Cash (Georgetown, Ind.) each put shots on goal in the second half, but neither found the back of the net with Wood making each save.
Asbury got a goal from Antoine Yongbang in the 65th minute before Noah Welch fired in a goal in the 80th minute as they cruised to the 5-0 victory.
Asbury – who improved to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in RSC play with the win – finished the contest holding a 17-11 edge in shots and an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal.
Jared Howard was dealt with the loss making six saves in 11 attempts, while his counterpart made six saves in eight attempts.
Midway (1-11, 1-4 RSC) will now return to action on Saturday when they host Indiana University East at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Midway Soccer Field.
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