Coming off a successful last weekend, the Emory men’s soccer team continued to make strides in their two games this week. On Sept. 25, the Eagles edged out the Sewanee: University of the South (Tenn.) Tigers 2-1. They added to their three-game win streak on Sept. 29 against the Rhodes College (Tenn.) Lynx with an emphatic 3-0 win.
Head Coach Cory Greiner said that it took some time on Wednesday for the team to adapt and find their rhythm.
“I think it took our team a little bit of time to get adjusted to the rain and specifically playing on turf,” Greiner wrote in an interview with the Wheel. “The field is also much narrower than most of the fields we play on, so it was an adjustment.”
Against Sewanee, both teams went scoreless for the better part of the first half, until the 38th minute when Tigers senior forward Ben Vaeth scored off a set piece from senior defender Rhodes Hall. Despite six shots on goal, compared to the Tigers’ three, the Eagles could not find the back of the net before the end of the first half.
With renewed vigor in the second half, junior forward Nate Sampson powered the ball to the goal in the 53rd minute, only to have it deflected by the Tigers’ junior goalkeeper James Murray. However, freshman midfielder Owen Hallauer secured a successful rebound and tied the game at 1-1.
With a goal under their belts, the Eagles’ offense started to come alive. It wasn’t long after Hallauer’s goal when senior midfielder William Jones capitalized on a scoring opportunity. After a corner kick in the 63rd minute, Jones dribbled through traffic and sent the ball into the lower right corner of the goal. With Jones’ first goal of the season, the Eagles went up 2-1.
The squad continued to play aggressively, controlling the ball and defending their goal. The Eagles ultimately took home the 2-1 victory while the Tigers accepted their first home loss of the season.
Riding the high of their three-game win streak, the Eagles took on the Lynx on Sunday. Like their game against Sewanee, the Eagles got off to a slow start with no goals from either side for the majority of the first half. But going into the game, Greiner felt prepared.
“I thought we had a very good warm-up, and I think we started the game a little bit conservative defensively,” Greiner said. “With the heat index, I knew it would be important to rotate players, and I think that is a serious strength with our team.”
However, in the 36th minute, University Athletic Association (UAA) Offensive Player of the Week freshman forward Madison Conduah lit the spark in the Eagle’s offense. After a quick defense to offense transition, Conduah found himself in the box alongside sophomore midfielder Matt Engler and sophomore forward Ethan Cohen. After a series of quick passes, Cohen sent a through ball, creating enough space for Conduah to find the back corner of the net.
The textbook nature of the shot was no coincidence. Conduah said that in practice, the team has worked on through balls and beating the defense.
“[Greiner] has really emphasized the idea for us to find space behind the opposing defenders,” Conduah said. “It’s something we’ve been getting a lot of reps at, so when the opportunity arose, I felt very comfortable taking it.”
At the end of the half, the Eagles remained up 1-0. But, the Lynx did not roll over in the second half. A Lynx player sent a shot from the corner of the box towards the opposite upper corner of the goal. But, junior goalkeeper Cole Gallagher made a stunning dive to block the shot.
The Eagles created more offensive opportunities thanks to a shutout from Emory’s lockdown defense. Senior midfielder Jun Tsuru was dribbling his way through the box trying to score when Lynx freshman defender Maxwell Hughes fouled him, giving Tsuru a penalty kick. He was then able to fool sophomore goalkeeper Nathan Meglic and put the Eagles up 2-0.
In the 60th minute, sophomore midfielder Will Tichy put the match out of reach for the Lynx. On a free kick, Tichy curved the ball around a five-man wall and sent it into the far post. The squad ultimately finished the game with a 3-0 shutout.
Conduah felt that once the offense got started, it became unstoppable.
“We started off a little slow, but once we were able to find the net for the first goal, we knew more goals were to come,” Conduah said.
Greiner also noted that the Eagles will have to improve their defense as conference play begins.
“Moving into the 2nd half of the season, I think it will be important for the individuals to buy in to their roles on the team (positionally, but also in terms of the depth chart),” Greiner wrote. “We definitely need to improve defensively as the next 4 opponents we play are currently regionally ranked teams, and the UAA is super competitive.”
The Eagles look to continue their four-game win streak on the road in their first UAA game on Oct. 5 against the University of Chicago Maroons at 1:30 p.m.
