Slow Start In First Half Ends Emmaus Bid for Conference Championship

The Emmaus soccer men competed in their first ever MCCC conference championship match on Saturday in Joplin, Missouri. Coming off of a big win over Faith Baptist in the conference semifinal, Emmaus looked to capture its first ever conference title. Standing in their way was conference juggernaut Manhattan Christian who were no stranger to postseason success.

The game was back and forth in the early minutes, with Manhattan possessing well and Emmaus struggling to find feet. The game was scoreless until the 25th minute when a through ball was mishandled in the Emmaus box and fell to a waiting Manhattan forward (#3) who poked the ball home.

Emmaus looked to respond, but Manhattan struck again just seven minutes later when a poor pass was intercepted on the wing and Payden Gaucher (#12) again found #3 in the middle who calmly scored for the two goal lead. Manhattan was not done, however, as they added a third goal in the 38th minute when Eagle keeper Salinas (#5) mishandled a low shot and Gaucher pounced on the rebound. Unfortunately for Emmaus, the brilliant first half was not over for Manhattan as a midfielder fired a shot from 25 yards out that hit the post and bounced in to give Manhattan a 4-0 lead at the break.

"It was definitely not the way we drew things up," said Coach Brown. We made some major errors and Manhattan capitalized on each of them. They played well, and we didn't make things easy on ourselves. Still, we knew we had another 45 minutes to play, and we wanted to make the most of the opportunity."

The second half saw Emmaus make some adjustments and create several great chances in the early minutes. Once again, however, Manhattan managed to take advantage of a quick counter attack as #3 settled a ball one on one and beat an Emmaus defender after a collision before calmly slotting the ball home.

Trailing by 5, Emmaus did not quit, pushing instead to regain some confidence that had been lacking early in the half. They were finally awarded with a goal in the 77th minute when All-Conference defender Elijah Barsness (#1) handled a pass from teammate Anthony Flores (#10) and fired a cross from 25 yards out that bent to the far post, deflecting in for the goal. Minutes later Eli Gioja nearly added to the Emmaus total, but watched his left footed effort sail just high. The 5-1 scoreline stood.

"Our guys picked a tough day to make some big mistakes that sort of put the game out of reach early, which is unfortunate with how well we have been playing lately. Still, they fought on, and I know they are better than the score showed today. I wouldn't trade this year for any other, and I love working with this group who shows me time and time again not only how to play hard, but that they want to grow where it matters most… in conformity to Christ's image. And our season isn't done yet… we get to play again on Thursday at home against Moody Bible Institute, and I can't wait to see how our guys fight with their season on the line. What a joy to coach them!" (Coach Brown)

Emmaus will play a win or go home match on their home pitch in Dubuque, Iowa on Thursday at 3:00pm as they host the NCCAA2 North Regional Tournament.