Greenville, SC – Playing on a field they have grown all too familiar with, our Eagles Soccer team pulled off a stunner by downing the #2 ranked Bob Jones University Bruins. Jake McClelland scored his first goal of the season in the 54th minute, which proved to be the game winner.

The Eagles soccer team traveled to Greenville, SC for a matchup of NCCAA DII heavyweights. The two teams have combined to win the last two NCCAA DII Men's Soccer National Championship in 2016 and 2017. The Eagles, sitting at 1-9 on the season, were looking for a statement victory over a familiar foe.

In the first half, the Bruins came out firing on all cylinders. The Eagles defense, which has struggled throughout the early parts of the season, gave the Bruins several golden scoring opportunities, which they ultimately were unable to capitalize on. The Bruins would outshoot the Eagles in the 1st half 8-7. The Eagles had one final opportunity late in the 1st half. Forward Daniel Vidal sent a shot toward the goal, but was it was turned away by the Bruins goalie. The score remained tied 0-0 at the half.

After the game, Head Coach Joseph Liwosz was asked about his team's gritty performance in the 1st half. He said, "We knew that we needed to play a team game. We played disciplined soccer tonight and took advantage of our opportunities."

Heading into the 2nd half, the Eagles hoped to net a goal against a stout Bruins defense that had held the team scoreless in the 1st half. In the 54th minute, the Eagles would find the goal they had been so desperately looking for. A shot by Kendall Mullenix, which went off the post, landed at the feet of Eagles forward Jake McClelland. Jake  calmly buried the shot past the diving attempt of Bruins goalie Isaac Landry to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead with 36 minutes remaining.

Throughout the remainder of the 2nd half, the Eagles were forced to play strong defense to keep their slim 1-0 lead over the Bruins. A flurry of late shots were ultimately turned away by goalie Brent Konieczynski, who recorded his 1st shutout of the 2018 season. The Eagles would go on to secure their 2nd victory of the season by a 1-0 score.

"It was huge for our team to see Jake [McClelland] score." Head Coach Joseph Liwosz continued, "He has had to move all over the field this year and has struggled to score. It was great for Jake to get one tonight!"

In the victory, the Eagles were outshot by the Bruins 15-11, but it was ultimately the Eagles who put more shots on goal (6-3). Jake McClelland scored his first goal of the 2018 season while goalie Brent Konieczynski recorded three saves on the way to his first shutout of the season.

The Eagles (2-9) secured their 2nd win of the season and earned a crucial victory over conference rival and NCCAA #2 ranked Bob Jones University. The team will be back in action on Tuesday, October 2 when they face Faulkner University, a team they lost to earlier in the 2018 season.