Grove City, PA - The Oberlin College men's soccer team trailed at the intermission but the script was flipped in the second half as they poured in four rebuttals to earn a 4-1 road win at Grove City College to kickoff the 2021 campaign. 

Participating in a competitive fixture for the first time in 665 days, the Yeomen found themselves playing the opening stanza mostly in the center of the park outside of a pair of early triggers from Michael Candelori and Alex Caceres. 

The game's first goal would come on a penalty kick opportunity for Sam Belitz in the 35th minute after a strong challenge in the box from Harrison Tramposch drew the whistle. Belitz's initial attempt was turned away by Yeomen keeper Parker Whitcomb but he would get a second crack at it as the linesman ruled Whitcomb left his line early. After going left on his first attempt, Belitz went right the second time to  put the Wolverines out in front. 

It didn't take long into the second session for the Yeomen to find the equalizer in the 54th minute as the Wolverines failed to clear a long pass into the box that Ben Kessler eventually played off his chest before one-timing a piercing strike into the upper right 90 to square the match. 

The Yeomen would keep the pressure on the Wolverines rearguard and would eventually forge ahead thanks to the first-career goal from freshman Augie Smith who finished off a slotted pass that bounced its way towards the back post for Smith to clean up. 

Following the go-ahead tally, the Yeomen would add an insurance score as senior Brian LaFranchi cashed in his first-career goal with the help of a Nic Jandeleit lead pass with just over 15 minutes to play. 

Not wanting to be left out of the fun, less than a minute later, Jandeleit raced by one Grove City defender and slithered between two others to open his season scoring account and run his career ledger up to 12 goals. 

The Yeomen finished with a 9-7 edge in shots and  had a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Wolverines ended with a slight 5-4 margin in corner kicks. 

Oberlin will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at Bethany College. The first touch is set for 4:30 p.m.