Men’s Soccer Season Comes to an End

WATERTOWN, Wisconsin—The Faith Eagles men's soccer season came to an end Thursday evening after a 3-0 loss to Maranatha in the opening round of the NCCAA regional tournament.

Offensive struggles were the theme for the Eagles most of the second half of the season and were a detriment in their opening round game against Maranatha as well. Not only did they struggle to score throughout the second half of the year, but the inability to keep the ball off the defensive side of the field allowed Faith's opponents to dominate time of possession and outshoot Faith by a wide margin on average. Over the last nine games of the year, the Eagles were outshot 190-77.

Against Maranatha, Faith managed just seven shots (two on goal), while Maranatha's offense accounted for 29 shots (11 on goal).

The Eagles kept things tight throughout the first half, trailing by only a goal at halftime. Maranatha scored their goal at the 34:09 mark, shortly after Faith just missed on a fast break scoring opportunity.

In the second half, Maranatha struck again at the 60-minute mark, and one last time at the 76-minute mark, sealing the fate of the Eagles.

From October 1 to the end of the year, the Eagles' record was 2-6-2. Faith finished with an overall record of 8-8-2. The peak of the Eagles' season was mid to late September when Faith won four straight and six of seven before their second half slide.

The future looks bright as Coach Sauser returns the majority of his team next year as seven starters were either freshmen or sophomores and three other freshmen and sophomores saw significant playing time.