Final: Cedarville 1 – UIndy 2 (OT)
Records: Cedarville 0-1-0 | UIndy 1-0-0
Location: Nuttall Field – Elkins, W.V.
 
ELKINS, W.V. – The University of Indianapolis men's soccer team kicked off the 2016 regular season on Thursday night. Standing in the Greyhounds' way were the defending champions of the G-MAC and 2015 NCAA Midwest Regional qualifier, Cedarville University.
 
Down by a goal early, the Greyhounds evened things up early in the second half with a goal from Noah Zorniger coming off a corner kick. Regulation wasn't enough to decide a winner and the game went to overtime where Jake Meyer headed home the game-winner off another corner to give the Hounds a 2-1 win.
 
GAME CHANGER
Less than three minutes into the extra session, the Greyhounds put this one away with their second goal off a set piece. Freshman Javier Steinwascher put a ball in from the right corner that Meyer was able to get a head on and put it past the Yellow Jackets' goalkeeper for the game-winner. Meyer
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
After managing just a pair of shots in the first half, the Greyhounds turned up the pressure on offense when the second half began and it paid off less than 15 minutes into the half when Noah Zorniger headed home a David Kurz corner kick. It was the second career tally for the Greyhound center back.
 
UIndy goalkeeper Chris Jones faced just two shots on goal during the match, coming up with his lone save of the match in the 77th minute to keep the game tied at one. UIndy held an 11-7 edge in total shots and a 4-2 advantage in shots on goal.
 
With the win, UIndy notched just the second season-opening win with Higgins at the helm. Thursday night's victory was the first in an opening contest since the 2013 season.
 
Six Greyhounds made their UIndy debuts on Thursday evening as Steinwascher, Brad Shaw, Kiuno Cann, Mase Koki, James Jenkins and Ben Rohder all saw their first action in the crimson and grey.
 
COACHES' CORNER
Head coach John Higgins: "We lost a goal on a set play in the first half and it was nice to see us come out on the positive end of that at the end of the game. We showed a little bit of rust in the opening game but full credit to the guys for sticking together and grinding this one out."
 
"Cedarville is a really good side and they gave us everything we could handle. It was unusual to see us come up on the short end of the possession battle, but we were able to overcome that and get a really big win against a really good squad."
 
"This one was very much a team performance. We had some freshmen come in and play some huge minutes. Javier (Steinwascher) had a great game today and for him to get the assist on the game-winner was something that he deserved. We've got a long ways to go and we're going to enjoy this win, but we know we're going to need to make some adjustments and come out ready to go on Saturday."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds will regroup on Friday before wrapping up their non-conference schedule on Saturday when they take on the Senators of Davis & Elkins College. Kickoff from Nuttall Field is set for 11:00 a.m. eastern time.