Abigail Speichinger accounted for both Eagles goals in a 2-1 win over Maranatha.
Abigail Speichinger accounted for both Eagles goals in a 2-1 win over Maranatha.
October 12, 2020

Women’s Soccer Evens Season Series with Maranatha

ANKENY, Iowa—A nearly perfect fall day, with campus foliage at its peak and seasonably warm temperatures, was capped with a thrilling 2-1 win for the Faith Eagles women's soccer team on Saturday over rival Maranatha. The victory revenged Faith's loss to Maranatha in the first game of the year and improved the Eagles' record to 2-2 on the season.

The Eagles' defense was superb on Saturday, holding the Sabercats (3-4) to a season low of just one goal. Maranatha was averaging four goals per game, but Faith's defenders allowed only seven shots on goal for the entire game, and held the school's all-time leading scorer, Alexis Sponable, scoreless. Sponable was injured late in the second half and was unable to finish the game.

Both of Faith's goals came off the foot of Abigail Speichinger, who lofted her first score of the game over the goalies head at the 24:16 mark in the first half to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead, bringing the large home crowd to its feet. Maranatha answered five minutes later to tie the game at one—a score that held through halftime.

The second half was a defensive battle, broken once again by another goal from Speichinger that was nearly identical to the first one. The 2-1 lead was all the Eagles needed as they held on down the stretch for their second straight win.

Women's soccer plays back-to-back games this week with a Thursday home match against the University of Northwestern (Minnesota) on Thursday at 2 p.m., followed by a Friday road game at Manhattan Christian College. Thursday's game is the final home game of the season for the women's soccer team.

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Team Stats