Sophomore keeper Adam Holt made three saves leading to his fourth shutout of the season and freshman Kelvin Omondi made an immediate impact in his collegiate debut, notching a goal and an assist, helping the John Brown men's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Rogers State (Okla.) on Saturday evening at Alumni Field.
The Golden Eagles (4-4-1) won their second-straight contest, and senior Will Simonds notched his second goal of the season in the fourth minute, which proved to be the game-winner. Senior Cory Cole potted his first of the season just before halftime and Omondi netted his first in the 53rd minute.
Rogers State (5-2-1) had its six-match unbeaten streak snapped and easily suffered its largest margin of defeat on the year. JBU out-shot the visitors by a 14-5 margin on the evening.
"This was a momentum game for us," said JBU head coach Scott Marksberry. "Everyone wants momentum going into the conference play. We got a good start and this game shows us we can put some goals away. I thought the boys played well, even though we struggled with some of their pressure in the first half. After talking about it at halftime, we made some good adjustments which showed in the second half."
Recently cleared to play by the NAIA, Omondi made his presence felt after subbing into the contest. In the 45th minute, Omondi received a short pass from Cole up the right flank. After turning and beating a Hillcat defender, Omondi placed a perfect pass to Cole who had to cut into the box. Cole one-touched a shot past two RSU defenders and keeper Cody Gammill, just squeezing inside the far left post.
Omondi wasn't done, however, as he struck for JBU's third goal in the 53rd minute. Junior Daniel Marulanda started the counterattack by playing a ball to the left flank where freshman Hazeley Pyle one-touched a pass to senior Zeke Zumbro futher up the flank. Zumbro turned and sent a pass through a pair of Hillcat defenders, where Omondi picked up the ball and danced into the box. Cutting to his left, Omondi fired a left-footed shot low past Gammill. Pyle notched his first collegiate point with the secondary assist.
The Golden Eagles struck early for a 1-0 lead when senior Guilherme Barbosa's corner kick fell into a crowded box in the fourth minute. Junior Marco Cardona was able to flick the ball further to Simonds at the back post, who used his body to deflect the ball into an empty net as Gammill had attempted to catch the corner. Cardona's assist was his third point of the week.
Holt evened his record at 4-4-1 with three saves, running his current shutout streak to 180:00. Gammill (5-2-1) took the loss in net for RSU, making five saves on JBU's eight shots on target.
The Golden Eagles are now 6-3-1 all-time against the Hillcats and have won three straight in the series.
JBU returned to action on Tuesday in Shawnee, Okla., to take on St. Gregory's in the Sooner Athletic Conference opener. Results were not available at presstime.
Sports on 09/30/2015