Eagles Sweep Manhattan, Win Big on Senior Night

Ankeny, IA - The Eagle men made it a senior weekend to remember this past Friday and Saturday, as they won big over a short-handed Oak Hills Christian squad Friday night, followed by a big win and season sweep of visiting Manhattan Christian College on Saturday. Both games were at home. The two wins move Faith to 8-1-1 overall and 4-0-0 in the conference. Faith has now won eight games in a row since their lone loss to North Central University back in early September. 

On Friday the Eagles hosted the Wolfpack from Oak Hills College. The Eagles were honoring 4 Seniors: James Busenitz, Josh Forgie, Sam Carsentson, and Will Holst for Senior Night.

The Wolfpack arrived with only 8 players and both halves were dominated by the Eagles. The Wolfpack were a quality opponent but with only 8 players on the field, maintaining consistent possession was nearly impossible. The ball lived on the Eagles half of the field. Forward Joshua Forgie, midfielder Grant Busenitz, and midfielder James Busenitz all scored a goal. Midfielder Seth Elliot, midfielder Carter Whitcher, midfielder Enzo Pileggi, and Forward Elliot Adomeitt all recorded their 1st goals of the season. Midfielder Grant Busenitz, forward Chris Barnette, midfielder Carter Whitcher, and forward David Garcia all recorded an assist. 

The Eagles scored 5 goals in the 1st half and 2 goals in the 2nd half as they defeated the short-handed Wolfpack on Senior Night 7-0.

On Saturday the Eagles hosted the Thunder from Manhattan Christian College. In their previous meeting this season, the Eagles defeated the Thunder 3-1 in Manhattan. This game was the most important one so far for both teams as Faith was fighting to keep their undefeated conference record intact while Manhattan was trying to give themselves a chance to earn a piece of the regular season title.. With MCCC bragging rights at stake, the game did not disappoint. 

In the 1st half the Eagles struck first. In the 2nd minute, forward Josh Forgie scored off a beautiful through ball from midfielder James Busenitz. The rest of the 1st half was back and forth action with neither team being able to find the back of the net. The Thunder played a very physical style but the Eagles did not back down which led to a chippy 1st half and overall game. With seconds left in the 1st half, forward Cristian Gutierrez scored off a deep ball from midfielder Chris Smith II knotting the score at 1-1 going into halftime. 

The 2nd half proved to be even more exciting than the 1st. In the 61st minute, forward Josh Forgie proved to be difficult to stop as he scored his 2nd goal of the game pushing the Eagles lead to 2-1. The Thunder were not finished yet. In the 73rd minute, Cristian Guitierrez scored his 2nd goal of the match (assisted for a 2nd time by Chris Smith II) evening the score at 2-2. 

Reigning MCCC MVP and senior captain midfielder James Busenitz demonstrated, yet again, why he is the best player in the MCCC. In the 80th minute, Busenitz took matters into his own hands as he scored on a difficult near post shot propelling the Eagles to a 3-2 lead. The Thunder were not able to score in the final 10 minutes and the Eagles escaped, winning 3-2. 

This victory over the Thunder gave Faith a shot at claiming their first regular season conference championship since 1996. In order to secure that title, Faith will need to earn a victory in one of their two final conference matches over either Ozark Christian College or Emmaus Bible College.

The Eagles' next game is Friday at home when they will have that opportunity to clinch the regular season title in their match with the Ambassadors from Ozark College at 3:30pm CDT.