The State Fair Community College Roadrunners traveled to Columbia College on Saturday, Aug.  20, to scrimmage the Columbia College Cougars, ranked seventh in the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Top 25. SFCC dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision. 

"Columbia College returned seven of 11 starters from last year's team that advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NAIA National Tournament," said Eddie Horn, SFCC's head men's soccer coach. "I was pleased with the way our men played. There were stretches of the game where we looked really good and were causing them some problems. The improvement we showed from our first scrimmage at home was exciting to see. We were more composed when we had the ball, and our passing was sharper. We were able to stretch out their defense and be more dangerous than we were against William Woods." 

The starters for both teams played for about 60 minutes with Columbia College winning that segment of the scrimmage 1-0. The second teams for both schools played for about 30 minutes with Columbia College winning that segment 1-0. 

"The biggest improvement came from our back four, which is made up of Max Martin at right back, Vlad Varshytsky, Roberto Ramirez, and Yusef Shoune," said Horn. "They were composed in the buildup and defended well. When that happens, we are able to get entry passes into our midfielders' and forwards' feet."

 SFCC opens the regular season at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, with an away region and conference game against St. Charles Community College. 

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics