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After 5 consecutive road games we finally played a home match against Cincinnati Christian. Right from the start we could feel the energy from the crowd and scored 2 goals in the first 10 mins. . Ameer scored scored first to give us a 1-0 lead. Then Irhad found the net for the second time this to increase the lead to 2-0. Just minutes after a Cincinnati Christian goal Ameer added his fifth goal of the season to push the lead back to 3-1 in favor of the Quakers. We finished the game strong defensively and held on for 3-2 victory. We will now focus on a very tough conference schedule beginning with Anderson at home this Saturday.

Highlights from the game

Freedom Trophy

The Freedom Trophy is coming home! We were on the road this weekend to play a very strong Oberlin team and earned a 1-0 victory. Irhad assisted Ammer for the lone goal of the match. That was the third time this season that Ameer has scored from an Irhad pass. Chris Marshall played in goal and had an outstanding game, coming up with a number of quality saves to earn the clean sheet. This was the our first win at Oberlin since 2002 and we are very proud of the way the boys played on the road. We are excited to be heading home to play Cincinnati Christian on Tuesday.

Wittenberg Tournament

Our first game of the tournament saw us play Mount Union. Both teams came out strong in the first half and even though we held a 6-3 shot advantage we went into the break 0-0. It took only 7 minutes of the second for Ameer to score his second goal in as many games and give us a 1-0 lead. Mount Union would pull level in the 60th minute. It would be an own goal in the final minute of the match which saw us lose 1-2. It was certainly a tough loss to take but there is no blame to go around, the effort was exceptional.

The second game of the tournament was against the host, Wittenberg. we did not get off to a good start and found ourselves down 1-0 just 5 minutes into the game. the player to his credit hit a wonderful volley from the top of the 18 into the top corner of the goal leaving our Keeper with little chance to save. We would go on to lose 2-0 in match that saw us out-shoot the home side 18-4. We will not play again until Saturday and we will use the time to fine tune a few areas of our game in preparation for our match against Oberlin where we will look to retain the Freedom Trophy.

First Win!

Traveling to Denison we knew we would be in for a tough match against the defending NCAC Champions. It was Lionel Mussoni who would open the scoring with a beautiful strike 35 yards from goal. we took the 1-0 lead into the break and started the second half with even more energy than the first. Less then 15 minutes into the second half Ameer Yusuf would score his first goal for the Quakers to put us up 2-0. We were able to hold onto the lead and grab our first win of the season.

At Wabash

we came out and started the first half very well. I was very proud with the energy the team brought into this match and the creativity was flowing offensively. However it was Wabash who would take a 2-0 lead into the break. 20 minutes into the second half Irhad Strika scored on a diving header to put the game in reach. However a second yellow card and subsequent ejection left the Quakers down a man only seconds after the goal. Playing with 10 men would not stifle our attack and it was nick Costello's first goal of the season which tied the match in the 80th minute. Just as the game was looking like it owuld go to overtime Wabash found the winner with only 2 minutes remaining. It was certainly a tough loss to take but the resiliency of the team is starting to show. Very proud of the way we fought back from a 2 goal defeciet and leveling the score playing down a man.

Ohio Northern

Ohio Northern grabbed the lead just 4 minutes into the match and and again with 4 minutes remaining in the half. Again we showed great resolve in the second half. Bannet scored his second goal of the season to bring the game within reach. We did not concede a single shot the whole of the second half even as we were pushing numbers forward. Nick Costello almost tied the game in dramatic fashion but it was the crossbar that denied him with 20 seconds to go. Again we had great support from the Quaker Army and we will miss them as we begin our 5 game road trip.

First Road Game

The first road game ended in disappointment for the Quakers. Case Western opened the scoring 20 minutes into the game. We responded immediately with Bannet showing a great display of strength on the ball leveled the score in less than a minute. The half ended at 1-1 but it was Case who seized control of the match scoring twice in the second half. The boys showed a great effort today on the road and we will look to build off that performance. I was really proud of the response we showed to immediately level the game after conceding the first, thats the attitude we are looking for.

Season Opens

Our first game of the season was against Thomas more and played in front of our home crowd. The Quaker Army was in mid-season form right from the start and really provided us with a lift. The game developed a start and stop pattern and strong defense early. As the game went on our attack opened up and we were able to create chances to score, but it was Thomas More who found the net with 15 minutes remaining and they were able to hold on to the one goal lead. We will be at case Western over the weekend and back at home next Wednesday for Ohio Northern.