Women’s Soccer Nearly Pulls Upset Over RCTC

ANKENY, Iowa—The Faith Eagles women's soccer team played its best game of the season on Tuesday, nearly upsetting Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC), the sixth-ranked team in National Junior College Athletic Association Division III.

The final score of 3-1 doesn't tell the story of how well the Eagles played. Faith led 1-0 at halftime following a goal from freshman Kayla Stephens, her first collegiate goal. It was only the second time any team has scored on RCTC this season, who entered with a record of 4-1 and had outscored opponents 12-1 on the year.

Faith's defense was spectacular throughout the contest against the highly-favored Yellowjackets. RCTC evened the score with their first goal at the 50:55 mark in the second half. The Eagles played toe-to-toe with them the rest of the way until two late goals in the final five minutes sealed the game for RCTC.

Coach Zack Barron has plenty to be happy about from Tuesday's performance, even in defeat. The Eagles showed great touch on their passing and controlled the ball for good portions of the game, keeping the defense rested. Faith was much better at keeping the Yellowjackets attackers in front of them, allowing just seven shots on goal. RCTC was averaging 18 shots on goal over its previous two games entering the contest with Faith.

The Eagles have a quick turnaround with a game against Crown College this Saturday at Faith. Game time is 1 p.m. Crown defeated Faith 6-0 a week ago, but the Eagles should enter the contest with renewed confidence after a fine performance against RCTC who defeated Crown 1-0 earlier this season.