EMU Mens' Soccer Finishing Strong With Four Straight Wins; Upsets Conference Leader Roanoke

The Eastern Mennonite University Mens' Soccer Team is probably the hottest team in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), having now won four straight matches with a well-earned upset of conference leader Roanoke by a score of 2-1 this past Saturday on the Maroons home field.

The Royals were out played in just about every phase of the game except on the scoreboard. The Maroons out shot the Royals 25-7 for the game, including out shooting EMU 14-5 in the second half. The Royals virtually were playing on their heels the whole match. However, thanks to EMU Goalkeeper Dillon Brunk's 13 saves, the Royals were able to hold on to the 2-1 victory and will finish no worse than 5th place in the ODAC standings.

The Royals drew first blood when Soph. Forward Muoka Musau served a corner kick into the box where Soph. Midfielder Mitchell Leap headed it into the net to give the Royals the 1-0 advantage at the 15:38 mark in the first half. Roanoke's Michael Stark struck back with the equalizer two minutes later, and the Maroons pressed for the next 10 minutes but could not breech Goalkeeper Dillon Brunk and the Royals Defense.

With just over 3 minutes until halftime, the Royals made a "quantum leap" in the form of their leading goal scorer, Mitchell Leap, who scored the second of his two goals at the 41:55 mark, which proved to be the winning goal. Royals Goalkeeper Dillon Brunk, a Sophomore from Dayton, VA, made a crucial save just before halftime.

Roanoke pushed and pressed the whole second half and nearly tied the game in the 78th minute, but Brunk came up big again with 2 big saves and two more with just 2 minutes left in the game to help preserve the upset win for the Royals. With 13 saves on the day, and several of them at crucial times in the match, Brunk was easily the "Man of the Match". The defeat for Roanoke was their first conference loss of the season.

The win vaults EMU's overall record to 7-5-5 and 5-2-2 in ODAC play. The Royals will wrap up the regular season Tuesday when they take on Randolph College. The ODAC Tournament begins Saturday, Oct. 31.