Box Score WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's soccer team won, 3-1, on the road at non-conference adversary King's College on Saturday afternoon, marking their first victory of the 2022 campaign.
"I'm excited for our guys to get their first win of the season." remarked Head Coach
Luke Gibson.
"It was a great team effort against a quality team on the road. I was proud of the way we responded to an early goal and we showed a lot of character fighting back."
King's (1-1) got on the board first in the early portion of the contest, netting the first tally in the eighth minute to take a 1-0 lead. Cairn (1-0-1) responded accordingly in the 12
th minute, as sophomore
Jesse Brittain (Chester, PA / The Christian Academy) delivered a cross into the middle where classmate
Moses Beers (Lancaster, PA / Manheim Township) fired a left-footed shot past the keeper's right side to knot the score up at 1-1. Unsatisfied, Brittain went back to work in the 18
th minute, capitalizing on a defensive miscue by the Monarchs as the sophomore darted down the left sideline and cut back to the middle, finding senior
David Falcon (Wayne, NJ / Hawthorne Christian Academy) for a goal to give the Highlanders a 2-0 edge. Cairn added an insurance goal just five minutes later, as a corner kick bounced around the box and found a waiting Falcon, who scored his second goal of the game to give the Highlanders a 3-1 lead, a lead they took into intermission.
The Monarchs had a few early opportunities in the second frame, as sophomore net minder
Chris Eelman (North Haledon, NJ / Hawthorne Christian Academy) retained the Highlanders 3-1 advantage, making six saves over the first 21 minutes of the half. Eelman turned away two more shots by King's in the remaining 24 minutes, sealing the Highlanders first victory of the 2022 season.
King's held a slim advantage in the shot department (17-16), while the Highlanders claimed the edge in corner kicks (6-3). Falcon led the way offensively with a pair of tallies, while Brittain paced Cairn with two assists. Eelman hauled in a career-high nine saves between the pipes en-route to a complete game victory, the first of his collegiate career.
The Highlanders will be back on the pitch on Wednesday, September 7, welcoming Arcadia University to Langhorne for a non-conference bout at 7 p.m. Wednesday will mark the first-ever men's soccer contest to be played inside the G. Patrick Stillman Athletic Complex.
