EMMAUS ATHLETICS

It was a great weekend to be an Emmaus Eagles soccer fan. After a slow start to the season, the young and hard-working Eagles earned their first two wins Friday night and Saturday morning versus Central Christian College of the Bible (Moberly, MO) and St. Louis Christian College (St. Louis, MO).

Aided by the return of several injured players including last year’s ACCA All-American Matt Imhof, the Eagles got started quickly on Friday night against the CCCB Saint’s. Imhof scored in the 7th minute on a brilliant overlapping run, finishing a layoff pass from Andrew Johnson . Despite excellent play, the eagles conceded an equalizer just 5 minutes later. Emmaus took the lead once again in the 33rd minute with Australian midfielder Phil Kern’s first career goal, a header off of Travis Holtan’s deflected shot on goal.

The Eagles went into the half with a 2-1 lead, and would not look back. Andrew Johnson went on to seal the win for the team with a goal directly off a corner kick that bounced off the Saint’s keeper. Emmaus outshot the Saint’s 18 to 6 and were denied goals on several opportunities by strong goalie play from CCCB’s goalkeeper M. Sprang.

Emmaus took the field again on Saturday morning against the Soldiers from St. Louis Christian. For the second straight game Matt Imhof put the Eagles on the board first with a strong finish on a low cross by Andrew Johnson, who dribbled by two defenders on the Soldier’s endline.

The rest of the half saw several close opportunities for the Eagles, including shots off the post by forward Travis Holtman and defender Micah Barsness. In the 44th minute, Travis Holtman put the eagles up 2-0 with a breakaway goal placed just under the foot of Soldier goalkeeper Tre Schlief.

The second half produced more opportunities for the Eagles and Matt Imhof capitalized in the 51st minute, putting the eagles up 3-0 with an unassisted solo run down the left flank topped off with a perfectly placed pass into the far corner of the goal.

The Soldier’s would not quit however, and scored their first goal just one minute later on a rebound goal following a tough safe by Eagle keeper Chris Roundhill. The teams then battled back and forth until Soldier midfielder Elijah Keen managed to place a low shot into the right corner of the goal, cutting the Eagle lead to 3-2.

The Eagles were not finished, however, as substitute David Roundhill came off the bench to score a cracking shot from 22 yards out over goalkeeper Schlief and into the far side net to seal the win for the Eagles (assist Matt Imhof).

The Eagles finished the weekend with 7 goals, 5 assists, and a strong show of defense. Saturday’s game alone saw the Eagles create 26 shots, including 15 on goal, putting their weekend total at an impressive 47 shots (24 on goal). Captain Matt Imhof summed up the games by saying that, “We have been working hard at fine-tuning our team defense and transition attack, which paid off this weekend.”

Looking ahead, the Eagles will face a very tough team in Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, IA) on Tuesday night at home before heading to Michigan for two weekend games against Kuyper College and Grace Bible College. The Eagles hope to use this weekend as a stepping stone in their overall development as a team, aware that their upcoming schedule will be full of touch challenges.

The 2012 schedule is now available for viewing on the web! The Eagles will play an exciting 14-game regular season schedule, capped off by our annual alumni game and a trip to Joplin, Missouri for the ACCA National Tournament!

Eight home matches should get Eagles fans excited already about cheering on the 2012 squad.  Emmaus returns a solid core of upperclassmen, led by senior captains Matt Imhof (Brighton, MI), Andrew Johnson (Dubuque, IA), and junior captain Micah Barsness (Mazomanie, WI). 

Some exciting matchups to look forward to:

• Season/Home opener vs. Calvary Bible (8/31)
• In-state rivalry games vs. Faith Baptist (9/18 @ home & 10/2 away)
• First-ever time facing Grace University (@ home on 9/29)
• Discover Emmaus Weekend home match vs. Grace Bible (10/6)
  
  

Last year’s team finished with a record of 3 wins and 11 losses.

Click here to view the 2012 Men's Soccer Schedule