Emmaus Soccer Men Earn Gutsy Win Versus Faith Baptist

The Eagles travelled to Ankeny, Iowa on Tuesday to take on their inner-state and conference rivals, the Eagles of Faith Baptist Bible College. The match marked the fifth consecutive road match for Emmaus as they sought their second consecutive conference victory following last week's 4-1 win over Calvary.

Faith entered the match a bit beat up and Emmaus took advantage. While both teams struggled to create many quality chances, Emmaus controlled much of the possession and forced some dangerous turnovers in the Faith back line. Their efforts were awarded in the 25th minute of the match when Anthony Flores (#10) was drew a deep in a Faith corner. Sami Gitonga (#6) challenged for Flores' free kick and saw his challenge send the ball pop up to toward the 18 yard box where defender Elijah Barsness (#1) rifled a volley out of the air and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Emmaus continued to create some close opportunities in the final 20 minutes of the half as the Emmaus defense effectively protected their own keeper. As the clock wound down to halftime, however, Faith managed to win a corner kick with 9 seconds to play. Faith scrambled to get a play off as Emmaus rushed into their own box to defend. In the confusion, Faith's Baldwin (#9) bent his kick toward the near post. Eagle keeper Rasmussen (#00), in an effort to punch the ball out, misconnected with the ball and knocked it into the side of the net to level the score with one second left on the clock.

"I will be honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to say to the guys after such a frustrating end to what was otherwise a really good half. I just told them the test was how they responded. They had a choice to either lay down and live in the past, or go out and get the game. The chose to go out and get it!" (Coach Brown)

After a fairly sober yet focused half time break, the Eagles came out re-grouped and fired up. Just four minutes into the second period, speedster Sami Gitonga (#6) found himself on a break and drew a defender before laying the ball off to senior forward Joe Olson (#3). Olson fired a shot that was saved by Faith Keeper David Levy (#1), but the rebound came straight back to Olson who buried his second effort for the 2-1 lead. Emmaus continued to create chances for the next 20 minutes and nearly added to their lead on several occasions.

The final 20 minutes of the match saw a motivated Faith team push hard for the equalizer. They came close in the 84th minute when Josh Bray (#2) launched a powerful free kick toward the lower right corner of the goal. Emmaus keeper Rasmussen, having already made several big saves in the half, stepped up big and forced the ball wide with a diving save. Faith nearly capitalized again in the 88th minute when Chase Clark (#8) found space in the box only to see his effort sail over the crossbar. The Emmaus defense, for their part, scrapped and fought for every ball, constantly repelling the Faith attack. The end result, Emmaus earned the 2-1 victory, marking their first win over Faith in the previous seven seasons.

"I was super proud of the guys and the way they fought today. I know Faith has been a bit beat up and they have some players nursing some injuries, but that doesn't take away from how well our guys played. They wanted this game today and their efforts clearly paid off. The offense played well, the defense scrapped, and every one of our players left everything they had on the field. There are still some things we need to work on as we move forward, but this was a big step for us. Faith is a solid crew who plays hard yet shows Christ-like character, and we get a chance to prove this win wasn't a fluke next week when we take them on at home." (Coach Brown)