Jonathan French
Assistant Director of Communications and Media
jfrench@transy.edu

NASHVILLE, TN - In the second game of the Sewanee Invitational, the Transylvania Pioneers faced off against the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Institute of Technology. After a huge second quarter from the Pioneers, Transylvania walked away with their first victory of the season. 

The game began with both teams searching for momentum after going back and forth. After a Transylvania penalty, Illinois Tech scored the opening goal on the man-up possession. Minutes later after a turnover and a good clear from the Pioneers, Andrew Welch tied the game at 1-1. Eight seconds into the second quarter, Briggs Beck assisted on the go ahead goal scored by freshman RJ Young. The Pioneer offense took off and Ryan Geisler scored from an assist by Welch minutes later. The run continued on a man-up possession Luke Stettter found the back of the net putting the Pioneers up three at the 10:24 mark. Stetter would find his second goal of the game in the eighth minute after a Nick DeGrandi ground ball pickup. After an Illinois Tech turnover, the Pioneers turned defense into offense and Geisler would find Kade Kruger who would go on to complete the 5-0 run. Transylvania went into the break up 6-2.

After halftime, Illinois Tech scored in the 12th minute, leaving the Pioneers up three. Samuel Archer would score his first goal of the season with nine minutes to play. After another Illinois Tech goal, the Pioneer attack continued to apply pressure and Geisler would score his second goal of the afternoon. The Scarlet Hawks would cut the lead back to three going into the fourth quarter. Illinois Tech's offense continued to click into the fourth with a goal in the opening two minutes. At the 7:35 mark, Jack Miller put the Pioneers back up three with a goal of his own. Josh Harney closed out the scoring for Transylvania with three minutes to play. The game concluded with a final score of 10-7. 

Head Coach Logan Otto mentioned post game that it was good to see fresh faces making big plays throughout the entirety of the weekend. "We had a really impactful weekend in terms of seeing some fresh faces make plays for us this weekend. We have really been battle tested through our first three games which will give us a great read early of where we are as a team.I am super excited about our depth and youth on this team.".

The Pioneers are looking forward to their next game against Sewanee on Saturday, February 22nd. Transylvania is back at home at Pat Deacon Stadium with the game starting at 1:00 PM. 

Transylvania University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the HCAC. To keep up to date with all of Transylvania Athletics, check out our website at www.transysports.com and follow @TransySports on Instagram.