Men's Soccer Season Review
The Faith men's soccer team had a breakout season in 2014. The Eagles started the year upsetting rival and #2 ranked Providence University College and vaulted into the top ten polls for the first time in nearly a decade and remained there the entire season. Faith faced several more early challenges against top ten conference opponents and were an overturned goal and saved penalty kick in overtime away from beating the current #2 ranked team nationally and a winning the regular season Midwest Christian College Conference (MCCC) championship. The Eagles finished the month of September with mixed results as they had a couple disappointing losses mixed in with number of convincing conference wins. The men took advantage of a mid-season break to rally together for five straight wins including a 3-0 win over #10 Ozark Christian College on the road. The Eagles faced Ozark again in the MCCC tournament where they were able to come from behind and win a dramatic shootout for third place finish in the conference tournament. Faith had five players named to the MCCC All-Conference Team including Joseph Frerichs (Honorable Mention), while Aaron Jones, Zach Peterson, Josh Bray, and Tui Hunkin were all voted to the 1st Team. The Eagles were also awarded with the Conference Sportsmanship award for the second time in three years.
Faith faced a much improved Providence team in the region semifinal and despite an early lead were not able to earn the victory. Jones, Peterson, Bray, and Hunkin were all voted to the North Central Region Team and Hunkin was named Region MVP, the first men's soccer player to earn that honor since 2006. The Eagles were able to conclude their season with a trip to the ACCA National Tournament in Joplin, MO. They won a dramatic semifinal match as they took an early lead, went into the break down one, but fought back for a 3-2 win over Hillsdale Baptist (OK). The Eagles fell in their run at a National Championship to a talented Dallas Christian College (TX). The Eagles had several players earn post-season honors as Zach Peterson and Caleb Acree both earned Scholar Athlete Awards, Aaron Jones was named Honorable Mention ACCA All-American, and Josh Bray, Zach Peterson, and Tui Hunkin (MVP) were all named to the First Team.
The Eagles finished the year 13-6-1 as regular season conference and region runners-up and well as ACCA National Tournament runners-up. They led the NCCAA II in scoring (62 goals) and shots (418) while ranked second in assists (44). Josh Bray led the nation in scoring with 18 goals. Tui Hunkin and Joseph Frerichs were ranked 20th and 21st in points per game, Hunkin was 18th in goals per game, while Aaron Jones finished 10th and Frerichs 17th in assists per game. Bray will move into the Faith single season record books in 6th for goals in a season and 9th for points per game. Jones moved into 5th with assists in a season and Frerichs will be 9th. Hunkin also set a school record as he recorded the fastest goal in school history, scoring in 12 seconds from the opening kickoff. The Eagles look to return many key players next year as they look to build off this season's success.
