The Eastern Mennonite University men’s soccer team finally had their home opener on Thursday night after being on the road for the first six games of the season. The highly anticipated home debut for the Royals saw them take on Mary Baldwin’s Flying Squirrels in a nail-biting competition.
The Flying Squirrels got the lone goal of the night in the 24th minute, putting them up 1-0. The Royals had some scoring opportunities for themselves but couldn’t get them through. The Flying Squirrels played a very heckling defense against the Royals all night long.
Despite losing the match, head coach Roger Mast saw some positives coming from his team. “Our players brought a strong intensity and grit to the game. They battled hard for 90 minutes. We won the possession statistics and we’re able to dictate play for much of the game. We also created several good attacking opportunities with two shots off the crossbar and another shot that was an obvious hand ball in the box that would often have resulted in a penalty kick,” said Mast.
Senior Goalkeeper Ahmed Zaatar was happy to be back playing back on the Royals home turf. “Having stretches of away games can be difficult, it felt good to play at home with our fans there, especially with the energy they provide,” Zaatar said. Only having given up one goal on the night, Zaatar was pleased with how the overall defense was played by the Royals. “I feel like we played well, and we are molding together well and it is going to show throughout the remainder of the season,” said Zaatar.
With the Royals getting close to getting into their ODAC schedule there are some skills coach Mast would like to see the team improve on. “I would like us to improve our composure to finish scoring chances. We also need to be able to create more attacking opportunities.” The Royals head to Roanoke to take on the Maroons on Friday, Oct. 1st.
