MARION, Ind. -- In front of a national audience on Wednesday night the No. 11-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men’s soccer team defeated rival Taylor (Ind.) by a 3-2 score at Wildcat Field.

The match was the NSCAA TV Men’s Soccer Game of the Week and was broadcast by Tourbeau Sports on the NSCAA TV website. The national audience saw a battle of the last two Crossroads League teams without a blemish in their league record.

Indiana Wesleyan now holds sole possession of first place in the Crossroads League with a 4-0-0 mark while Taylor drops to second place at 3-1-0. IWU has won nine straight to improve to 10-1-0 and Taylor, who is receiving votes in the NAIA Poll, is 8-4-0.

“It’s a huge victory and it can’t be overstated,” said coach Joe Schulman. “This win is about a number of things. It’s about protecting our home field and keeping our record perfect at home. With Taylor being 11 miles away it makes it a huge victory for a number of reasons and it’s important for us to compete with them well every year. And being in sole possession of first place is a great position to be. We’re looking forward to the rest of the journey as we try to go into the tournament with home field advantage.”

Tyrone Martin (SR/Indianapolis, Ind.) fed Keaton Albert (JR/Park City, Ill.) in the 41st minute for the only goal of the first half as Indiana Wesleyan dominated play over the first 45 minutes. The 1-0 halftime lead came for the Wildcats after they outshot the Trojans 7-0 in the opening period.

Taylor came back and tied the score 1-1 early in the second half as Lewis Nisbet scored for TU in the 50th minute.

Seven minutes later Indiana Wesleyan caught a break. Martin put a shot towards the keeper that he fumbled and the ball rolled through him for a 2-1 IWU lead. In the 75th minute, Albert fed Taylor Lehman (JR/Indianapolis, Ind.) who had a nice touch to beat the keeper and scored from the side of the goal to give Indiana Wesleyan a 3-1 lead.

“Taylor brings a lot of energy into the game,” said Schulman. “We’ve talked all year about effort and energy and he brings a high work rate. And his goal tonight was huge for us.”

The Lehman goal became the game-winner as the Trojans made a late charge. Sam Hardy took a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box and scored on the direct kick as the Wildcat lead was trimmed to 3-2 and seven minutes remaining.

Taylor would earn a corner kick in the final minute of play but did not register a shot over the final eight minutes of the game.

“They compete hard and play a very direct style of soccer,” added Schulman. “They come directly at you over the top and with numbers. If you aren’t sharp in your 1 v 1 responsibilities it can pose a lot of danger. And they did that tonight. They did well at drawing fouls around our area and obviously they were able to finish one of them. And that made it a barn burner at the end of the game.”

Indiana Wesleyan outshot Taylor 10-8 for the night as both teams put four shots on goal. IWU keeper Josh Goepper (JR/Shelby Township, Mich.) made two saves to earn the win in net for Indiana Wesleyan.

IWU next plays at Goshen (Ind.) on Saturday. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Goshen, Indiana.