Falcon Men’s Soccer Team Picks Up Two Wins in Georgia

This past weekend the Falcons were once again on the road to Georgia to play two tough NJCAA opponents. The Falcons faced #16 Spartanburg Methodist College out of South Carolina and Georgia Military College out of Milledgeville, Georgia.

Though the Falcons faced adversity playing a game Saturday and Sunday, they still left Georgia with victories over both teams. The Falcons are now 5-1 in their inaugural season.

The Falcons faced undefeated #16 Spartanburg Methodist College in Milledgeville, Georgia on Saturday. The first half went scoreless with both teams having chances on goal. Early into the second half, the Pioneers netted an open header from a corner kick setting the score for the game at 0-1. The Falcons rallied together and came back scoring two back-to-back goals from freshman Ryan Goldsmith and sophomore Jonas Bukh putting the score at 2-1.

Late into the second half the Pioneers tied the game up after having three consecutive chances in front of the goal. With the game tied and time running out, Jonas Bukh put another goal in on the Pioneers, raising the score to 3-2. With four minutes left in the game, the Pioneers were given a penalty kick with a chance to tie up the game and take it into overtime. This pressure didn't seem to bother Palm Coast native goalkeeper, Jesse Della Porta, who came up with a huge save to give the Falcons the win over the SMC Pioneers.

The Falcons outshot the Pioneers 18-9 with goalkeeper Jesse Della Porta having a total of 7 saves.

"Jesse came up huge for us on Saturday," says Head Coach, Bart Sasnett. "He played a great match and made saves that not all keepers can make. It's not easy to save a PK, but this is Jesse's second time doing it."

On Sunday, the Falcons faced Georgia Military College. The Falcons got on the board in the first four minutes of play with freshman Mohamed Hussein scoring off a cross from freshman Jahnazae Swan.

After another 15 minutes, Hussein netted his second goal off a corner kick with an assist from freshman center back Rory O'Keefe. "I was very pleased with how Mohamed played. Scoring two goals after playing an entire match the day before is huge," says Sasnett.

The Bulldogs got on the board late into the second half but it wasn't enough for them to overtake the Falcons who left the match with a 2-1 win. The Falcons outshot the Bulldogs 18-10 with sophomore goalkeeper Palemon Plancarte coming up with 6 saves.

"I knew that it would be a rough match having to play GMC with tired legs, but I knew our guys would step up to the challenge," says Sasnett.

The Falcons will face Region 8 opponent ASA College out of Miami, Florida on September 23 at 4:00.