Men's Soccer stays unbeaten on European trip with 3-1 victory at Sant Pol

By Tim Glon

| Photos | 2019 Europe trip site |

SANT POL, Spain — The Ohio Northern men's soccer team remained undefeated on its 2019 trip to Spain and France with a 3-1 victory at Sant Pol on Wednesday evening.

The Polar Bears are now 2-0-1 on their trip to the Iberian Peninsula after a 0-0 tie and a 2-0 win at a Les Preses club on Monday.

Against Sant Pol, Northern got on the board in the 17th minute when sophomore Jacob Westerkamp (Beavercreek) finished off an assist from sophomore Matt Studenic (Wadsworth) to make it 1-0.

Sant Pol tied the match at 1-all with a goal in the 31st minute, but junior Beelal Hasan (Westerville/Thomas) quickly gave ONU a 2-1 lead with an unassisted goal in the 32nd minute.

Sophomore Seth Gundlach (Wilmington) took a feed from junior Zach Yoder (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) and scored in the 52nd minute of the second half to extend the lead to 3-1.

"This was another good result for us," ONU interim head coach Chris Matejka said. "We controlled the match throughout and except for one defensive mistake played very solid. Our experiences here will certainly help us build on a successful 2019 campaign."

Ohio Northern will continue its trip to Catalonia and southern France on Thursday with another training session in the team's home base of Lloret de Mar on the Coata Brava north of Barcelona.

The Polar Bears are currently on their sixth trip to Europe in program history and will spend 11 days and 10 nights in the Catalonia region of Spain near Barcelona and a day trip to France before returning to Ada on Aug. 12. 

ONU is scheduled to play one final match on Friday.

In addition to its two matches on Monday, Northern has trained with the Spanish professional coaching staff of RCD Espanyol on Tuesday was part of a crowd of more than 98,000 people to watch an exhibition match between FC Barcelona and Arsenal on Sunday as part of the trip.