Preview: Principia, Greenville Due Up For Red Devils
Update (Tuesday, 1:05 p.m.): Tuesday's match against Principia was postponed until Thursday at 2 p.m. at McKinzie Field due to inclement weather.
EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka College men's soccer team will continue St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition with a pair of league matches this week. Principia will visit McKinzie Field Tuesday at 5 p.m. on the FieldTurf before the Red Devils travel to Greenville for a 1 p.m. league kickoff this Saturday.
JOHNSON BREAKS SAVES RECORD
Eureka senior goalkeeper Daniel Johnson made seven saves last Friday to break the Red Devils' all-time record in a 2-0 win over Emmaus Bible in Dubuque, Iowa.
Johnson ended the match with 295 career saves, breaking Tyler Mumm's (2010-13) previous mark of 293. Johnson's save at 59:47 tied the all-time EC record and his stop of Anthony Flores' shot at 71:48 set the new mark. Johnson earned his 16th career win to extend his own program record and produced his first clean sheet since a 2-0 win over MacMurray at Traister Field on Sept. 24, 2016.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
Brady Thomas tied the match with a late first-half goal, but host MacMurray erupted for four tallies after intermission to secure a 5-1 SLIAC victory over the Red Devils last Wednesday afternoon in Jacksonville, Ill.
The goal from Thomas, the eighth of his three-year EC career, knotted the score at 1-1 with just 3:24 left before halftime. Evan Bolwerk, who opened the scoring for the hosts with a sixth-minute goal, supplied the match-winner at 50:58. His strike triggered a four-goal outburst from MC over the final four minutes, including Jacob Lee's goal at 55:04 and Omar Martinez's strike at 64:50. Bolwerk finished a hat trick with further insurance in the 87th minute.
Thomas took six of the Red Devils' 12 shots on Thurday. Johnson made six saves in goal.
Adam Newell broke the 0-0 tie with the match-winner in the 83rd minute in the Red Devils' 2-0 win over Emmaus last Friday. James Bowen and Michael Hansen were credited with assists on the play. Bowen provided insurance less than four minutes later when he scored on an assist from Thomas for a 2-0 lead at 86:12.
The victory over the Eagles was Eureka's first road win of 2017.
Spalding earned an 11-0 SLIAC victory over the Red Devils last Saturday afternoon at Traister Field.
Jacob McMurray hit the match-winner for SU at 14:57. Sergi Olvera-Vancini, Kornell Hilliard and Mirza Ugarak each tallied two goals in the win.
Hansen attempted three shots for the hosts against the Golden Eagles. Eureka finished the day with six total shot attempts.
PRINCIPIA AT EUREKA (TUESDAY, 5 p.m.)
Eureka will play its third match at McKinzie Field on Tuesday when Principia visits for a 5 p.m. SLIAC start. The Panthers are 4-6-0 overall and a perfect 3-0-0 in SLIAC competition after opening the league schedule with victories over Spalding (2-1), Blackburn (1-0) and Greenville (3-2).
Freshman forward and reigning SLIAC Offensive Player of the Week Kaleb Keller has scored eight of the Panthers' 14 goals in 2017. Senior goalkeeper Matt Jones has logged 648 minutes in net and owns a 2.22 goals-against average in seven starts. Hess Semnacher, a 2009 graduate of Principia, is in his third season as head coach.
The Red Devils broke through for a historic victory over the Panthers last season, a 3-2 triumph in Elsah, Ill. on Oct. 22, 2016. The decision was Eureka's first win over PC in 11 meetings since 2007.
EUREKA AT GREENVILLE (SATURDAY, 1 p.m.)
The Red Devils will take their second league road trip of 2017 this Saturday in a 1 p.m. match against Greenville. GU owns a 6-7-0 overall record and a 1-2-0 record against SLIAC opponents. The Panthers will host Fontbonne Thursday before Eureka visits campus on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers' leading scorer is freshman forward Caleb Carpenter, who has tallied seven goals in 13 starts this fall. GU has used five goalkeepers this season, but primarily counts on sophomore Nick Holland, who owns a 2.18 goals-against average and a .716 saves percentage over 948 minutes played. Chris Swift is in his fifth season as head coach.
The Red Devils earned a scoreless double-overtime draw with GU last October to end a 12-match winless streak in the all-time series. The Panthers lead the all-time series 12-0-1 since 2007.