Emmanuel College Sports Information Department

FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. --- The Emmanuel Soccer Lions began their regular season on the road to Coker College. With a few key players missing it would prove to be a tough test for many of the new comers. The Lions started slowly and went behind early on from a well worked Coker set-piece converted by Juan Arreola. However the Lions responded well with Alex Wright striking the bar shortly before turning provider for Martin Mitreski. Wright showed great skill to beat a couple of Coker defenders before smashing the ball across the goal. The scrambling Coker defenders could not properly clear the ball and Mitreski was in the right place at the right time to poke the ball over the line. The Lions were dealt another blow when captain Mark Shrosbree was shown a red card after receiving his second yellow card of the game. Coker regained the lead before the half time whistle through a bullet header at the back post by Jordan Snell.

A re-shuffled Emmanuel took the field for the second half with as many as seven freshmen on the field at one time. The game was tied up when a misplaced Jake Young pass from half way managed to loop over the head of the Coker goalkeeper. The young Lions were able to hold on and they took the game into overtime. The game could have went either way in overtime, both teams had opportunities to win the game but the young Lions showed great maturity and defended valiantly in front of freshman goalkeeper Ryan Brose who collected 12 saves on the night to preserve a well-earned draw.

Coach Borchers had this to say after the game "It was a tough night for us, but I was very happy with the resolve the boys showed! The passion, togetherness, and discipline they showed on the evening was fantastic to see. We are consistently improving and that is a good thing to see."