Men's Soccer News

Season Review

The Faith men's soccer team ended the season with a record of 8-7-1 in what can be seen as, "the season that could have been." The Eagles year began by tying a school record for most consecutive wins to start a season and compiled a record of 6-2 at the midpoint of the year as a tremendous freshman class joined an experienced and talented core group of returners. The tide of the season turned as injuries began to mount and players were constantly put in unfamiliar positions. The extent of the injury problem became most evident when the Eagles were forced to recruit players from the student body in order to have enough people to field a competitive team for a two-game road trip to Minneapolis.

The season had a number of thrilling moments, most notably were two sudden death overtime wins at home. The first one came as the Eagles dominated St. Louis Christian in every aspect of the game but remained tied at 1-1 going into to the final few minutes of regulation. Just as it seemed that the Eagles would finally get the go-ahead goal, St. Louis scored off of a quick counter-attack. With less than one minute to go Faith found a way to equalize and eventually win in double overtime. The most recent one occurred on senior day against a strong Grace Bible College (MI). The Eagles gave up an early goal but leveled the game before halftime. A scoreless second half brought about a fourth trip to overtime for the 2011 Eagles. Having recently experienced a devastating overtime loss to a team they felt capable of beating, the Eagles found the energy and determination to get a ball behind Grace's defense and score the golden goal in front of an exuberant crowd.

The Eagles were led in scoring by freshman Brian Russell who had nine goals three assists, followed by freshman Seth Roberts who accounted for eight goals in just ten games; ranking both of them nationally in goals per game and points per game. All-Region and All-Conference goalkeeper Michael Craig ended the season ranked 14th in goals against average while making 74 saves and earning four shutouts this season.

Faith will miss the leadership of All-Region seniors Seth Bean, Ryan Johnson, and Emanuel Seewald but look to return a number of talented underclassmen as they continue to build the program. "It was a challenging, yet very rewarding season. We were able to see the guys learn and grow as they experienced the ups and downs of a tough season. It is easy to get caught up in the game and lose focus on what's most important, but these guys did an incredible job of demonstrating Christian character as they enjoyed their successes, but more importantly when they struggled through defeat," said Coach Backous.

Men Fall to Region Champions

(10/28/11) Otterburne, Manitoba - The Faith men's soccer team travelled to Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada for the North Central Region Tournament this past weekend. The third seeded Eagles faced second seeded North Central University Friday in the semi-final. The game started with the Eagles fending off number of early attacks by North Central and Faith was able to keep the game level through the first fifteen minutes. Shortly after that Faith gave up a free kick just outside the 18 yard box that North Central was able to score directly off of. The Rams took advantage of the momentum and scored two more goals within the next ten minutes to make it 3-0 at half time.

The Eagles gave up a fourth goal just after halftime before they were able to slow North Central's attack and create their own scoring chances. Faith was finally able to get on the scoreboard when Seth Roberts got behind the defense and scored off a through-ball by fellow freshman Brian Russell. The Eagles fought hard for the remainder of the game but were not able to draw the game any closer. North Central went on to upset nationally ranked Providence College and win the region championship 1-0.

After the championship game Ryan Johnson, Seth Bean, Emmanuel Seewald, and Michael Craig were selected to the All-Region Team. Johnson was a three-year starter who scored one goal and had two assists as a defender after transferring from Pillsbury. Seth Bean was a four-time All-Region defender, 1st team All-Conference selection, and two-time All-American. He scored three goals and recorded one assist while helping the defense to 23 shutouts during his career. Emmanuel Seewald led the Eagles in scoring in 2008 and 2010 and recorded 23 goals and 12 assists during his career. Michael Craig was an All-Midwest Christian College Conference selection as well as All-Region selection this season. Michael has nine career shutouts and 121 saves in a season and a half as the starting goalkeeper.