Alma, Mich. - The Alma College men's soccer team welcomed the Adrian College Bulldogs to Scotland Yard for the final regular-season home contest of the 2015 campaign. Alma ended on a positive note at Scotland Yard with a 2-0 win defeating Adrian (4-10-2 overall, 3-7-1 MIAA). Alma now holds an overall record of 10-4-1 and are 7-3-1 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA).

After the victory Alma's wins in a season is at its highest (10) since under the direction of Head Coach Josh Oakley. This year is also the first season the Scots have had a winning record at home since Scotland Yard's inaugural year in 2002, when it was last done. On today's last match at home of the 2015 year the Scots are now 4-3-1 at Scotland Yard. 

Alma dominated the start of the game controlling the flow and time of possession for the entire first half. Alma had nine shots to Adrian's one before senior Julian Birge (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) helped sophomore Evan Shirkey (Howell, Mich./Howell) find the back of the net in the 28th minute where he notched his fourth goal of the season.

The Scots went in to halftime with the 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs dominating all aspects of the game. Alma had 13 shots (six on goal) to Adrian's 3 shots (zero on goal) and four corner kicks to Adrian's two. 

Alma started the second half slow but then the momentum from the first half kicked in and the Scots stretched their lead to two in the 73rd minute on a kick from senior Chad Buitenhuis (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) that deflected off of an Adrian defender.

At the end of the day the Scots took home a 2-0 victory over Adrian out shooting their opponents 18-9 as well as in corner kicks 5-3. Junior Nick Strait (Jenison, Mich./Jenison) was in the net for the Scots and his record improved to 10-3-1 overall. 

As the season is winding down with only three games left Alma sits at third place in the MIAA standings. The Scots will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Saturday (Oct. 24) to take on the Kalamazoo College Hornets who are now sitting at second in the MIAA standings and the game time is set for 12:00 p.m.

QUOTES

Senior Chad Buitenhuis

on the goal...

"It was nice to have a goal finally come. I've had a couple chances this season so it was nice to have one finally fall. The goal gave us a nice cushion but ultimately it was just another win. It was a little special because it was senior day and possibly our last game at the Scotland Yard, but to us it was really just another game."

moving forward on the rest of the season...

"We need to remain focused and continue to take these games one at a time and not look at the standings. It's nice to have a little cushion in the league, other than last year where we had to battle for the last spot. It allows us to play freely and as long as we don't become complacent and keep our heads around it we should be fine and will continue to play Alma soccer."

Head Coach Josh Oakley

on the victory...

"We did start off slow in the second half, but once we brought in some substitutions those guys really got us going. Then Chad Buitenhuis was able to get his goal which gave us some breathing room. It was a deflection but you can't score if you don't shoot. I was proud the guys came out strong in the first half. They were winning every single ball, first to everything, creating great chances, hitting posts and then eventually broke through. I am very happy for the guys."

moving forward on the rest of the season...

"It's really nice to get the win because it locks down a playoff spot. Now we can make a run for second place, granted we don't want second place, but now it's about jostling for position in the playoffs. The mind set for the next couple weeks is to win games. We want to continue to play well going in to playoffs. We know we're going to be a two or three seed and we want to continue to get better in the upcoming weeks."

highest wins under Josh Oakley...

"It has been a long time since we've had a 10 win season. We've been doing some good things over the past couple years and a lot of that is credited to the seniors. Their sophomore year they were 9-8-1 and that was the first winning mark in a long time and last year we made the playoffs. We've been together a long time and this year we have the potential to do something even better."