ANCASTER, Ont. - Penalty shots, hat tricks, goals galore, and lots of wind and rain. The Redeemer Royals soccer home openers had everything, including a dramatic 3-2 victory for the men's team.
It was an unbelievable night at the Royals Soccer Complex on Wednesday as the men's soccer team played their home opener in front of the Royals faithful on a very blustery and rainy evening. Redeemer edged out the Fanshawe Falcons 3-2 in dramatic fashion under rough conditions for their first win of the season.
It was a homecoming to remember and the large amount of Royals fans that stuck out the match to the end did not go home disappointed. In the pouring rain, Redeemer's Josh Elgeti knocked in a 90th minute penalty shot to hand the Royals a very hard fought win. The goal by Elgeti completed his hat trick and completed the comeback for Redeemer who was down 2-1 going into the final 10 minutes.
Redeemer's first goal of the match came in the 26th minute after the Royals had just given up the lead in the game. Elgeti scored on a free kick just outside the 18-yard box only four minutes after Fanshawe's Cedric N'Guessan opened the scoring.
Fanshawe finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute when Connor McLeod found the back of the net for the Falcons. The Royals were quick to respond with another goal of their own off of another Elgeti free kick. The shot was deflected off of a Fanshawe player in the six-yard box and ended up crossing the goal line in the 82nd minute.
The turning point in the match developed over the last five minutes as Redeemer's goalkeeper, Matt Koning took over the match for the Royals. A number of key stops in difficult rainy conditions kept the game tied and the Royals in the match. Koning's biggest moment of the evening came in the last minutes of the game when Fanshawe was awarded a penalty shot and looked to finish the game with a 3-2 win. Koning guessed right and made his biggest save of the season keeping the score tied at two.
With both teams attacking for the win, Fanshawe repaid the favor to the Royals with their own foul in the 18-yard box, giving Redeemer their penalty shot in the last minute of the game. Elgeti knocked it past the Falcons goalie for the lead and the eventual win.
Redeemer head coach Kyle Grootenboer appreciated the effort his team put in under difficult conditions. "It was a hard fought game," he said. "Our boys made some mistakes throughout the game but were able to cancel out those mistakes with unrelenting effort against strong winds and rain in the second half."
"A number of players stood out for the coaching staff in the opener tonight," added Grootenboer. "Koning made several difficult saves look routine, including a penalty shot and Elgeti set the bar pretty high for performance for the 2014 season with some wizardry off of free kicks. Tuninga and Visser also had very strong games."
The Lady Royals also opened up their season at home after an impressive 1-0 win over Niagara on the road on Sept. 6. Looking for back-to-back wins to start the season, Redeemer had a strong first half that saw the Royals go down early (third minute) before Monica Loewen tied the score and Debora daSilva put them ahead 2-1.
Loewen's goal, in the 20th minute came from a great shot just outside the 18-yard box that beat the keeper at the far post. DaSilva's goal gave the Royals the lead after Fanshawe's goalie deflected the ball across the six-yard box following a strong Royal's shot.
Ten minutes later, Fanshawe tied the game when Marisa Oliveira scored her first of three goals in the game.
Fanshawe owned the second half, scoring in the 48th, 69th, 72nd and 78th minute as Redeemer struggled to contain the Falcons outside shooting. Fanshawe took the win 6-2, handing the Royals their first loss of the season.
Next up for Redeemer is a trip to Sheridan College to take on the Bruins on Saturday.
Source: Redeemer University College
ANCASTER, Ont. - The Fanshawe Falcons men's soccer team had a tough week losing a pair of close games on the road. The Falcons fell to 0-3 on the season.
On Wednesday night, Fanshawe was on the road at Redeemer College (1-2). Fanshawe held a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to go but couldn't hold on. The Royals scored on a scramble in front of the net with eight minutes left and then on a penalty kick in the last minute of the game. Redeemer won the game by a final score of 3-2.
The Falcons headed to St. Clair on Sunday night to take on the undefeated Saints (2-0-1). St. Clair jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead that Fanshawe was unable to come back from. The Falcons lost the game by a final score of 3-1.
Fanshawe hosts the Conestoga Condors (0-3) this Wednesday at 5 p.m. at City Wide Soccer Field.
Source: Fanshawe College