In its home opening games Friday and Sunday, the AU men's soccer team crushed opponents in a double win against Princeton University and Bowling Green.
The Eagles started its 2-0 domination over the Princeton Tigers early into its Friday game. The intensity level and persistence was strong as AU attempted 10 shots past the Princeton keeper, including a shot by freshman Jamie Davin that hit the crossbar. The effort finally paid off when, in the 32nd minute of the game, freshman Daniel Shannon put the Eagles on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal, Shannon's first career goal.
Early in the second half, a Princeton player received a red card, causing the Tigers to play a man down while the Eagles continued with a relentless amount of shots on goal. The AU team looked strong as it continued to fire another 12 shots on the Tigers keeper who held the Eagles at bay with his career high of 11 saves. The determination of the Eagles finally got through to the net in the 81st minute of the game. Senior Jason Kuykendall took a corner kick that reflected off a Tiger defender to junior Tremaine Chinapoo. Chinapoo then passed back to Kuykendall, who fed a cross through the empty backside of the net to freshman Mike Worden, allowing Worden to score his first career goal. AU goalkeeper and senior captain Chris Sedlak highlighted the game with his 10th career shutout over the Tigers' 10 attempted shots.
"The win was good," Coach Todd West said. "The team is growing every day. We have four freshmen and four sophomores starting. They are very talented but still need to learn college soccer."
The AU team continued its winning streak with a final score of 2-1 when it hosted Bowling Green Sunday. Freshman Jon Freimark initiated the scoring for AU with a breakaway goal into the box on an assisted pass from teammate Worden in the 42nd minute of the first half. In the second half of the game, the visiting Falcons tied up the match with a shot that beat Eagle keeper Sedlak on a one-on-one. Despite letting in a goal, Sedlak played a strong game with six saves that move his personal record to 3-1 on the season, saving 13 of the 15 shots on AU's goal.
Before the game could go into overtime, Eagle midfielder Philip Purdy kicked a low cross through the Falcon box, hit a Falcon defender and deflected into the net, bringing the Eagles to a 2-1 win.
West said he was pleased with the performance of the team. However, he said, there is room for improvement.
"If we can work on our ball speed, I think we'll create chances and things will go from there," West said.
The AU team hits the road to play its next game in Florida against the University of South Florida on Saturday and then returns to AU for a home game against Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday, Sept. 19.
