Men's Soccer Falls to Crown in Regional Semifinals

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota—The Faith Eagles men's soccer season came to a conclusion on Friday with a 5-0 loss to the Crown College Polars. The Eagles had a magnificent season, winning their conference tournament championship and finishing with 10 wins for the second straight year.

The game time temperature was 35 degrees with overcast skies in downtown Minneapolis on the campus of regional host North Central University. The close proximity of the site to Crown College's campus and the arctic weather conditions did the Eagles no favors as they looked to avoid a season-ending loss to the Polars for the second consecutive season. Crown knocked the Eagles out of last year's regional semifinal as well.

Crown came out of the gate firing at Faith's net early and often. The Eagles' second-ranked scoring defense was put to the test consistently throughout the first half as Crown attacked with a steady barrage of shots on goal. The Polars amassed 24 shots on goal in the first half alone, compared to two for the Eagles. Two of those shots found the net to give Crown a 2-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, the cumulative effect of Faith being on the defensive side of the field for most of the game took its toll as three more shots found the net for Crown.

The Eagles ended their season with a record of 10-4-2 and have plenty to be happy about. Two times this year, the Eagles won five consecutive games. Prior to today's game, the defense only allowed 1.0 goal per game, good for #2 in the nation. And for the first time in school history, the men won a conference tournament title. With nearly every player scheduled to return next season, the 2023 campaign looks bright.