For the first time in three seasons, the John Brown University men's soccer team wasn't held scoreless in its home opener. This time, the Golden Eagles never relented in its pressure and secured a 3-0 win over No. 24 Lyon on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Despite a lopsided 20-5 shot total, the Golden Eagles (1-0) had a difficult time scoring in the first half. Sophomore Kelvin Omondi had a chance to give JBU an early 1-0 lead, but his penalty kick skipped just wide of the left post, past Scots keeper, Edgar Lopez.
In fact, Omondi was everywhere the whole game, leading all players in shots (8) and shots on goal (5). Although not scoring in the game, Omondi set a single-game career high with three primary assists, the first of which came in the 40th minute, just before the half.
Senior midfielder Daniel Marulanda chipped a cheeky flick through into the box where Omondi cut through a series of defenders. With Lopez frozen, he slipped a cross-box pass to sophomore Ryan Williams, who deposited the 1-0 lead.
Still denying the Golden Eagles a breakout score, Lyon (0-1) finally allowed two goals in a five-minute span, giving the hosts all the cushion they needed.
In the 78th minute, Omondi broke up the right side, beat his defender and dropped a pass for sophomore Corey Ferguson, who shelved the 2-0 lead.
Five minutes later, sophomore Conner Haney took a lead pass from Omondi up the left sidelines. After running into the lead pass, Haney burned past his defender and slipped a shot past Lopez and the near left post.
Lyon never mounted a serious offensive threat, besides one free kick in the 79th minute. The Scots' Omar Fabila bent a shot over the Golden Eagle wall and off the near left post.
JBU junior goalkeeper Adam Holt (1-0) picked up the clean sheet, the 13th of his career. Lopez, who stood on his head all afternoon and personally denied Omondi at least a hat trick, took the loss, making 10 saves.
"I would say that we have a long way to go, but that we did some promising things today," said JBU head coach Scott Marksberry. "I was glad to see the guys work for a clean sheet at home to start the year. I also liked the variety of chances that we created. I think we could have been sharper in finishing those chances, but it is encouraging that we put 14 shots on frame today. That was a struggle for us last year.
"We'll get back to training this week to work on improving the details before the fans show up on Friday night."
The Golden Eagles will welcome Southwest Baptist (Mo.) on Friday night in the third annual "First Game Under the Lights" tradition. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Sports on 08/24/2016