Flurry of Late Goals Sees Emmaus Fall to Lincoln
Lincoln, IL - The Eagles travelled to Lincoln, Illinois on Saturday to take on the Red Lions of Lincoln Christian University. The Red Lions, who had scored 27 goals in their first four games of the season, put some early pressure on the Eagles back line, but the defense held. The Eagles, playing short-handed and tired from long hours on the road, struck first in the 5th minute when Samuel Gitonga (#6) calmly headed a ball into the corner of the net off of an Anthony Flores (#10) corner kick.
The Red Lions had an answer as they pulled equal in the 13th minute on a well- placed shot from Paulo Espinoza (#23) off of a through ball from his brother, Favio Espinoza (#25). The teams battled back and forth for 25 minutes before Espinoza struck again when a deflected ball bounced into his path. The Red Lions then added to their lead before half when David Lucas (#7) finished a ball in the 43rd minute. Lincoln held the first half advantage in shots 10-4.
The second half saw the Eagles settle in and create several opportunities, holding an advantage in shots 6-5 until the 74th minute when Espinoza earned his hat trick off of a pass from Ethan Frontone (#10). The same two players hooked up again in the 81st minute and took advantage of a scrambling Eagle defense. Espinoza was not done, however, as for his third straight game he notched a 5th goal unassisted. The final nail in the coffin came with less than a minute to play when Frontone found C.J. Whitten (#4) at the back post on a low cross. The final score was 7-1 as Lincoln held.
"My hats off to Lincoln for playing a complete 90 minute game. They are much improved over last year and have some dangerous players to watch. I would have loved to see us finish the game stronger, but there are lessons to be learned from the match. After a long weekend on the road it will be nice to play at home this next week" (Coach Brown).
The Eagles have a busy week ahead of them as they will host Clarke University (Dubuque, Iowa) on Tuesday, September 15th and Baptist Bible College (Springfield, MO), along with Central Christian College of the Bible (Moberly, MO) on the 18th and 19th.