Eagles Topple Warriors in Style
Dubuque, IA - On a sunny, clear day in early Fall, the Eagles took to the field to compete with the Warriors of Calvary Bible College. With both teams limited to 13 players, it was sure to be a hard fought battle.
Calvary's attack had several early chances, led by their veteran forward Mark Rodenberg. Several Calvary shots found their target, but Emmaus goalkeeper Gabriel Salinas handled them well.
The first breakthrough came in the 17th minute, when an Emmaus corner kick was deflected back to kick-taker Anthony Flores, who crossed the ball back into the box and found freshman midfielder Samuel Gitonga, who headed the ball past the Calvary keeper to take the lead 1-0. The rest of the half saw an even game, with Emmaus controlling most of the possession. Late in the first half, sophomore Eli Gioja found a bouncing ball and took a left footed volley, which looked promising, but sailed just wide. The halftime whistle blew with the score still 1-0 for Emmaus.
The second half proved similarly close. In the 55th minute, freshman forward Anthony Flores played a corner kick low to the near post, where sophomore midfielder Kyle Pikaart struck a first-touch shot to the low corner and into the goal.
As the game continued, Calvary's attack intensified, again led by junior Mark Rodenberg, who finished the game with 9 of his team's 14 shots. However, in the 83rd minute, junior Nick Skoglund reentered the game for an injured Kyle Pikaart and just two minutes later headed an Anthony Flores cross past Calvary's keeper to make the final score 3-0.
Anthony Flores finished the game with 3 assists, and freshman goalkeeper Gabriel Salinas picked up a clean sheet in his first career start in goal. The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday, September 29th, as they take on Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, IA.