Lessons From the First and Last 5’s

Dubuque, IA - For the second time in a week the Emmaus men's soccer team took on the Eagles of Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, IA) in a rematch of conference opponents. After a disappointing 6-1 loss the previous week, the Eagles were excited for the opportunity to play a tighter match.

Despite their excitement, Emmaus struggled to settle the ball down early, which resulted in a costly turnover on the back line that saw Faith forward Nick Paine (#3) steal and fire the ball off the post and the keeper's back for the goal.

Suddenly awoken as if from slumber the Eagles began to attack, pressing Faith's back line and sending in several dangerous crosses of their own. Faith's defense held firm, however, as they managed to get to the break with their slim 1-0 lead. Emmaus outshot Faith 8-4 in the first half and looked like the better team for long stretches.

With both teams fired up to begin the second half it was Faith who upped the tempo to another level. Winning ball after ball in the air they forced Emmaus to come up with a plethora of scrappy saves on the back line. Keeper Rasmussen (#00), back in goal for the first time since a recent surgery, looked confident in the back and came up with some huge saves.

The Eagle offense, struggling some to produce shots in the second half, nearly equalized in the 73^rd minute when Anthony Flores (#10) beat three Faith defenders and played a great cross to a newly healthy Joe Olson (#3), who saw his one touch effort fly over the bar. Minutes later, the two created havoc again as the Faith keeper was forced to come off his line. Joe won the ball 25 yards out and saw his attempt on goal bounce just wide of the post.

In the final 5 minutes of the game, the Eagles pressed to equalize, adding a third forward. It was Faith's offense, however, that saw late success as Chase Clarke (#8), who had been quiet most of the game, won a ball down the right flank and found midfielder Wilkes (#6) at the 12 yard mark for the strong finish. Finally, with just 20 seconds to play, Faith found the back of the net for a third time when Andrew Young (#21) made a magnificent diving header off of a late corner kick. The 3-0 score line held as both teams left the pitch exhausted after the hard fight.

 "I was really proud of the way the guys fought today. For long stretches of the first half we looked like the better team, and it really could have gone either way. Kudos to Faith for upping the tempo in the second half, but our guys hung with them. If we could take away the first and last five minutes we have a 0-0 ballgame and no one could say it wasn't earned. It was great to have a few of our sick and injured guys back in the mix after long absences, and I am excited about our potential moving forward" (Coach Brown).

The Eagles will be heading to Manhattan, Kansas this weekend to take on the Manhattan Christian Thunder and Barclay Bears in what should prove to be two great conference matchups. Kickoffs are scheduled for 3:30 PM and 11:00 AM on Friday (9^th) and Saturday (10^th).