Flores-McCarl Combo Helps Fuel Emmaus Victory

The Emmaus men's soccer team welcomed in-state conference rival Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, IA) to town on Tuesday afternoon for their second regular season meeting. The Faith Eagles took advantage of a tired and short-handed Emmaus side on September 12th of this year, easily defeating them 5-0 after cashing in on several early mistake. Emmaus was eager to have another crack at their conference rival, and their fans would not be disappointed.

The game got under way with Emmaus applying early pressure to the back line and most of the battle taking place in the center midfield. In just the 4th minute, however, Anthony Flores (#10) beat a defender on the sideline and fired in a perfect cross to forward Mason McCarl (#7) who was ready at the back post for the tap in.

Just six minutes later it was Faith's turn to strike when Emmaus was whistled for a foul near midfield. Oustanding senior Joseph Frerichs (#11) sent in a driven ball that Emmaus keeper Gabriel Salinas (#5) misjudged and only managed to get a hand on before seeing it drop into the net behind him.

With the score tied, both teams pushed to gain an advantage, with Emmaus coming close at several opportunities. The score stood until the half.

Emmaus came out ready to play in the second half and saw several early chances just miss, including a shot by McCarl which beat the Faith keeper only to hit the post and bounce back into play. Finally, in the 62nd minute, Emmaus took the lead for good when Nick Fairley settled a rebound in the box and put away the shot which would prove to be the game-winner.

Faith continued to press to equalize, but the Emmaus defense held firm. In the 82nd minute, center back Elijah Barsness (#1) cleared a deep ball into the Faith defense which Flores settled and crossed to the back post where McCarl was once again waiting, this tim finishing the play with his head to give Emmaus the 3-1 lead, capping a solid day for the Emmaus men.

"I knew our guys could compete with Faith and they surely proved it today. It is fun to see the guys get some results after losing some close games recently. Faith is always a tough team and I expect and look forward to another great match if we happen to meet them at the conference tournament. The tournament is more wide open than ever this year, which should be a lot of fun! Our defense is playing well and our offense is starting to click. I can't wait to see how these guys finish out the season!" (Coach Brown)

The Eagles will be back in action on Friday night as they will host the Red Devils of Eureka College (Eureka, IL) with kickoff set for 4:00. The Eagles will look to avenge their earlier overtime loss to Eureka after outshooting them 29-14 in their previous meeting. Friday will be senior night as the Eagles will look to honor 4 senior players.