Men’s soccer falls in tough loss to Clearwater

The men’s soccer team played in two hard fought games this week. First on their schedule was Emmanuel College (2-4-3) on Monday evening. They held much of the possession time and had several good shots, but none of them fell. Emmanuel’s first goal in the second half came off a penalty kick after an FC player was called for a penalty in the box. Emmanuel would score four more goals in the game, as they outplayed the tired Falcons. Junior David Barker filled in for the two injured keepers, playing an aggressive game in goal.

Assistant coach Okang Nkosi acknowledged the team’s weakness. “In the first half we fought hard,” he said, “but we always let down in the second half because our legs get tired. Some of the guys play a lot of minutes and we don’t have a lot of subs.”

Freshman Jason Rodriguez agreed. “We had an extremely strong first half,” said Rodriguez. “We played well, communicated, and passed to each other. In the second, we got tired, we didn’t talk, and we started playing as individuals instead of a team.”

Clearwater Christian College (8-1-3) was once again a tough opponent for the Falcons. They scored the lone goal of the first half, off a kick 90 yards out in the upper corner. Their second goal was also a tough shot, and freshman Austin Parimore responded with a goal of his own, making the score 2-1 as the game neared its end.

However, both teams continued to play a very physical game and Clearwater scored their third goal off a header from a corner kick. FC refused to give up and continued to look for a score. They found it as freshman Saif Alsafeer took off with the ball from half field and sent a pass up to freshman Chris Redfield, who drove around the goalie for an easy shot. This energized the team and they continued to have several good opportunities, but were unable to convert them into a score. The game ended 3-2, even after a last effort by Parimore and freshman Brett Witherington.

Head coach Tim Hanlon ‘09 was satisfied with the game. “This was the best game we’ve played all season,” he said. “Normally we start dropping off, but we came back and scored another goal in stoppage time. Everyone pushed and we kept fighting.”

“This is what we’ve been challenging them to do all season. Now we need to carry this over into the last two games.”

The men have a week to prepare for their next game against Thomas University, which takes place on October 24 at 3:00 PM in Thomasville, Ga.