Sophomores Steve Teshima and Ashby Clark scored a goal in each half and junior Adam Holt made a timely save to carry the No. 15 John Brown University men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over Oklahoma City on Tuesday (Oct. 4) evening at Alumni Field.
The win came after the NAIA released its next round of Top 25 national rankings, which saw the Golden Eagles move up one spot to the No. 15 slot in the nation. It's John Brown's highest ranking since the third ranking of 2004, which it held the No. 13 spot nationwide.
Teshima and Clark each tallied their second goals of the season while sophomore Ryan Williams added a helper, his seventh of the season.
It took JBU (8-1-1, 3-0-0 SAC), the hosts, just eight minutes to find the board as Williams' free kick from outside the left box floated into the goalmouth, where Teshima laid a header on the volley, beating City keeper Vladimir Kalajdzic for a 1-0 John Brown lead.
Nine minutes later, the Golden Eagles were whistled for a foul inside the box, prompting OCU (8-3-0, 2-1-0) an opportunity to tie the match. Petar Djurdjevic's attempt to the bottom right post was rejected by a diving Holt save, preserving the one-goal lead.
After a narrow 9-7 shooting advantage in the first half, JBU opened up a 7-3 stanza in the second half. While most play was in the midfield and neither team had strong scoring opportunities, the hosts received the insurance goal it needed in the 7th minute.
After a booming Holt drop-kick, Williams played sophomore Kelvin Omondi across the top of the 18. Omondi's bending attempt beat Kalajdzic, but rattled off the crossbar. On the rebound, Clark cradled the free ball and one-touched a shot into the goal.
Holt moved to 8-1-1 with his sixth clean sheet of the season, making four saves. Kalajdzic fell to 8-3-0 and finished with fives saves on the match.
The Golden Eagles were scheduled to return to action this past Saturday against St. Gregory's as part of JBU's homecoming festivities. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU will return to action this upcoming Saturday at home against Science and Arts of Oklahoma. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Sports on 10/09/2016