The Christendom Men's Soccer Team began their 2016 season this past Thursday with a well fought victory over Lord Fairfax Community College. Coach Jake Guttierrez is back leading the men's soccer team, assisted by Peter Blank and David Keatley. The team is young, but seniors and team captains Stephen Foeckler and Derek Casey are ready to take charge and lead the team.
Once the Crusaders settled down in the first half, sophomore Pete "Lightning" Day lead the charge, scoring one of his three goals in the beginning minutes, assisted by perfect touch pass through the defenders from freshman Michael Urankar. Stephen Foeckler then scored on a penalty kick to make the score 2-0 Christendom. Lord Fairfax fought back though, and scored two goals to tie the game midway through the first half. Both teams continued to battle and fire at the opponents goal, with both goalies making great saves, until freshman James Foeckler wove through the defense and found the back of the net, and then out ran the defense and snuck a second goal in off another nice pass from Urankar. Casey, Matt Hill, and the defense took charge in the middle of the field and the Crusaders went into halftime with a lead of 4-2.
Even though the team is young, with twelve freshmen on the roster, the Crusaders played like a well-oiled machine in the second half, moving the ball around the field opening up many scoring opportunities. The passing and ball movement shifting LFCC's defense resulted in three more goals for the Crusaders. Freshman Carlos Parda Gasque scored off of a ricochet off of goalie Lacek's initial block, and Freshman Tommy Vander Woude scored after a great touch pass from James Foeckler past a couple defenders, and Day completed his hat trick by out running the defense and scoring the final goal of the game. The Crusaders finished the game with a 7-4 win over Lord Fairfax Community College.
The Crusaders left the field with a victory, and a strong start to the beginning of a promising season. Their next match will be on Sunday September 4th at Crusader Field at 3:00pm as they take on a very fast and athletic Berkeley College team.