Eagles Topped by Sabercats
The Eagles soccer team traveled to Maranatha on Saturday to take on the Sabercats in a Regional matchup. The Sabercats came out hot scoring on 4 of their first 5 shots on goal. The scoring began early in the 7th minute when amidst a scramble around the 18, Brett Cournoyer broke free for a clean shot into the lower right corner of the net. Two minutes later Maranatha struck again when Kevin Risma scored off of a corner kick by Caleb Walters. Faith kept fighting with chances of their own by Josh Bray and Caleb Sturgis. Bray's shot was saved by Maranatha keeper Andrew Taylor and Sturgis' shot sailed high. In the 17th minute Austin DeAngelo created a dangerous opportunity with a cross into the box that Tyler Nelson capitalized on by shouldering it into the net for the 3-0 Maranatha lead. Maranatha would cap off their scoring in the 25th minute when Nathan Akers ripped a shot from about the 12 and placed it into the bottom left corner of the net. Faith would settle in the rest of the way and not allow another goal, but faced an uphill battle trying to come back from a 4-0 deficit.
Faith brought a lot of energy and high intensity into the second half, outshooting Maranatha 10-7 in the second half and evening out the shots on goal at 9 a piece for the game. Faith was rewarded for their hard work in the 79th minute when Joey Young found Josh Bray making a run and Bray placed it by the keeper for the goal.
"I was proud of the way our guys kept fighting and didn't quit despite the early hole we found ourselves in. They showed good character in continuing to battle against a skilled Maranatha team. The team has had to work through injuries and guys playing new positions and I thought we improved as the game went on and gained some valuable experience today."
Faith will travel to Central Christian College of the Bible for the MCCC Conference Tournament next week as the #5 seed and will square off against Emmaus on Thursday at 4 pm.