Backup Goalie Shines Despite Loss for Short-Handed Eagles

The Emmaus men's soccer team continued play Friday afternoon when they hosted the Ambassadors of Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO). The Eagles, missing three players including starting goalie Erik Rasmussen (#00), entered the game with a flexible mindset as several were called upon to play brand new positions.

From the starting whistle Ozark set an offensive tone, playing the ball deep into Eagle territory for a goal kick. As both teams struggled to establish any kind of possession, Ozark looked to find its quick forwards Endicott (#9) and Davis (#14) over the top. The Eagle defense was scrappy, however, and repelled a wave of attacks. A scary moment came in the 21^st minute for the Eagles when backup keeper Kyle Pikaart (#11) was stepped on in the box and had to exit the game with a bruised back.

The story looked worse just 2 minutes later when Ozark finally managed to find the back of the net against third string keeper Gabriel Salinas (#5). Ozark's Hunt (#12) settled a rebound, which he fired back at the goal from inside the 18. Salinas made the initial diving save, but the rebound ricocheted directly off of Ozark's Cannon (#7) and into the net. Even as the Eagles attempted to brush off the goal, the Ambassador's caught the Eagle defense slightly flatfooted when midfielder Woodring (#18) managed to split the middle of the Eagle line and slot home a perfect shot to the left corner for the 2-0 lead.

With the game seeming to get out of hand, the banged up Eagle defense dug deep even as the offense looked to settle and control the ball. Ozark continued to press, but it was as if a beast had awoken in Salinas. Over the final 24 minutes of the half, Ozark managed to put 10 shots on goal, with Salinas saving all of them (including a one on one breakaway).

The Eagles, rejuvenated by Salinas' efforts and the home crowd, came out with a renewed energy in the second half, working the ball around and sending in some dangerous crosses. In the 55^th minute, Eli Gioja (#2) came close to scoring when teammate Flores (#10) allowed a through pass from Samuel Gitonga (#6) to reach Gioja, whose shot went just wide of the right post.

Minutes later, Salinas came up with another huge save on an Ozark breakaway.  As Emmaus continued to try to counter, Ozark sent wave after wave of attacks into the Emmaus half. Finally, after some excellent stops by Salinas, the Ambassadors were rewarded with a third goal in the 72^nd minute when Hunt (#12) fired a perfect shot into the upper left 90 that no keeper could have saved.

Not to be deterred, the Eagles, down to a single sub, continued to press forward and defend in scrappy fashion. No matter what the Ambassadors sent the Eagles were ready, with Salinas coming up huge time and time again. When the final whistle blew the Ambassadors had recorded an astonishing 44 shots, 25 of them on frame. Salinas, in his debut as an Emmaus goalie, recorded 22 saves.

"We definitely faced some adversity heading into the game tonight, but our guys really stepped up their game, kept their heads, and played a hard 90 minutes. The defense was scrappy, the offense remained patient, and Salinas, well, he was huge. Ozark is an excellent team and their depth and speed were obvious tonight. Still, I felt like our guys played their hearts out and I was proud to coach them." (Coach Brown)

The Eagles fell to 0-2 in conference play, but they will get an opportunity to improve on that record tomorrow afternoon with another home game at 2:00pm, in which they will take on the Warriors of Calvary Bible College.