Men’s Soccer Wins on Senior Day

ANKENY, Iowa—Despite a two-week layoff and the cold, rainy conditions, the Faith Eagles men's soccer team secured its first win of the season on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Barclay College.

Jacob Stilwell and Sawyer Gogerty were honored during pregame ceremonies for Senior Day, and the two of them combined for 165 minutes of action in a game that was all smiles for the Eagles, who improved to 1-2 on the season, and are 1-0 in conference play. Faith dominated possession of the ball from start to finish, outshooting Barclay 54-6.

Credit should be given to Barclay's goalie, who made a handful of incredible saves and kept the Eagles off the scoreboard until the midway point of the first half, despite a barrage of shots by Faith. Carson Odle got the Eagles on the scoreboard first with an assist from Noah Zollinger at the 28:06 mark. It was the only goal of the half for either team.

The Eagles kept the pressure high on Barclay's defense in the second half, and the shots finally started going through the net as James Busenitz connected for a goal at the 49:34 mark, with another assist from Noah Zollinger. Zollinger capped his fine afternoon with a goal of his own ten minutes later, and the Eagles were in control, 3-0. Busenitz made his second goal of the game with less than five minutes to play, and Hanan Lindow added the fifth and final score of the game shortly before the buzzer.

Faith looked sharp on both sides of the ball on Saturday, their most complete effort of the year. The timing was perfect as Coach Backous's team veers into the fast lane on the schedule with seven games in the next 18 days. The Eagles' next opponent is Maranatha Baptist University at noon on Saturday in Ankeny.