Freshman defender Douglas Oliveira netted the first goal of his collegiate career while freshman netminder Adam Holt collected his first victory as the John Brown University men's soccer team earned a 2-1 win over Ozarks (Ark.) Monday at Alumni Field.
"Well, a win is a win at this stage of our season," head coach Scott Marksberry said. "We certainly looked sharp for the first two minutes of the match, but we are still struggling to put games away. I thought Ozarks played very tough throughout, and I hope to see them have a great season.
"It was nice to see Marco (Cardona) get his first goal of the year, and Douglas was probably the most impactful player on the field, considering his performance on both ends of the field. We will have to be much sharper in our finishing and much more organized in our defending through the middle third when Oklahoma Wesleyan comes to town.
The Golden Eagles (1-3) blitzed Ozarks (1-2-1) with 27 shots, 12 of which reached target. The visiting Eagles could only muster six of its own in the loss.
Sophomore striker Marco Cardona opened up the scoring just 1:50 into the match when he finished a pass up the middle from freshman midfielder Collin Smith. Cardona snuck through the box and ripped a shot to the right side, beating UO netminder, Austin Benner, for a 1-0 lead.
JBU out-shot the visitors 17-4 in the first half, but after subbing into the match, Matt Weaver made the Golden Eagles pay on a defensive breakdown. Bryce Young sent a pass to Weaver up the left flank, who converted a shot past Holt to knot the score at one apiece in the 23rd minute.
Despite the tied score, John Brown out-shot the visitors 17-4 in the first half. Ozarks held a slight 4-2 edge in corner kick opportunities.
As play began to settle down and even out in the second half, the Golden Eagles continued to push for the go-ahead tally. Finally in the 63rd minute, Oliveira put John Brown ahead for good, finishing an Eli Simonsen corner kick in the box to the left side of the net. The tally was Oliveira's first of his career, in just his fourth game played as a defender.
Ozarks wasn't able to counter the Golden Eagle offensive onslaught for the remainder of the contest. JBU earned a 10-2 shooting advantage in the second half and calmly collected its first win of the season. Senior forward Ryan Duncan paced John Brown with five shots while Cardona added four. Senior forward Martin Gonzalez and Smith each added three shots apiece.
Holt (1-3-0) picked up the first win of his collegiate career, making one save in the victory. Benner fell to 0-2-1 and knocked aside 10 Golden Eagle scoring chances.
John Brown will have little time until its next game, a Thursday matchup with No. 5 Oklahoma Wesleyan. The 7:30 p.m. kick off will mark an opportunity for JBU to avenge a 5-2 defeat in the 2013 campaign's season-opener.
Sports on 09/10/2014