Road Trip Brings Positives, Areas for Growth (23 Sept)

The Emmaus Eagles Men's Soccer team took to the road this weekend for matches against Ozark
Christian College and Calvary University. The Eagles, traveling without Head Coach Ben Brown, were
led by Assistant Coach Cliff Conrad for the weekend. This weekend began a stretch of 7 matches in 14
days for Emmaus, so smart play and squad rotation were vital.
Friday's match against Ozark began in sweltering weather, with the head index well in excess of 90
degrees. Both teams seemed to suffer from the heat at the outset, but settled in and began playing decent
team soccer. Ozark opened the scoring after 20 minutes and added a second shortly after, taking a 2-0
lead into the break. Emmaus came out strong in the second half, and a tactical switch resulted in several
chances in front of goal, but the Eagles were ultimately unable to finish. Ozark scored a 3 rd with 8 minutes
to play, and a demoralized Emmaus conceded another goal with just 10 seconds left to finish the game 4-
0 to Ozark.
Saturday's match against Calvary saw 7 changes made to the Emmaus starting eleven, including
goalkeeper Mitchell Patzka making his competitive debut. The Eagles started strong, with Freshman
Carson McBain getting his first collegiate goal in the 8 th minute to put Emmaus ahead. Shortly after,
Junior Eli Gioja also opened his Emmaus scoring account with a close-range finish to double the Emmaus
lead. McBain would score again, as would freshman Brandon Young to bring the game to 4-0 at halftime.
The Eagles continued to play strong in the second half, as freshman Nick Fairley fired a shot from range
that just barely missed the Calvary goal. Calvary were able to find a consolation goal with about 20
minutes to play, but the final score was set at 4-1.
Coach Conrad was thrilled with the way the team played. "The changes we made against Ozark carried
over into the Calvary match and it was clear that the players were simply having fun playing the game.
We played great team soccer, and Mitch Patzka played great between the sticks as well."