Oct. 2 Southwestern Illinois College at Belleville, Illinois

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners travelled to take on Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois on Oct. 2 where the match ended in a 1-1 draw after two overtime periods.

Southwestern Illinois scored first off a free kick, but State Fair responded with a goal from freshman midfielder Angelo Salomone of Australia. Freshman midfielder Mani Hondroudakis of Australia, provided the assist on the score.

"Our boys were dominant everywhere except the scoreboard," said SFCC Soccer Head Coach Jaime Beltran. "Southwestern Illinois got an early goal off of an unfortunate foul, which led to a set piece. That has been the bane of our existence the whole season. After that goal, we dominated possession and positioning. We had at least seven or eight chances to get the go-ahead goal after we tied it up. We just couldn't get anything to go in."

As a team, SFCC recorded 25 shots, 14 of them were on goal. Sophomore midfielder Vasbert Ledger of Lafayette, Louisiana led the team with seven shots, four of them were on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Reece Gabbert of Sedalia got the start in net for the Roadrunners and made 11 saves in the match.

Oct. 5 East Central College at Sedalia

SFCC picked up an important Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference victory on Friday, Oct. 5 over East Central College by a score of 4-1 at the Fred E. Davis Sports Complex.

East Central got on the board first with 24 minutes remaining in the opening half.

SFCC fought back when they were able to draw a foul inside the 18-yard box with less than two minutes remaining in the half. Hondroudakis scored the penalty kick, shooting the ball in the lower left-hand corner to tie the match at one.

"I thought we played well in the first half," said Beltran. "We possessed the ball and moved it from side to side. East Central could barely get a touch on the ball. We earned a penalty kick and I feel like the second half was one of our better halves of the year."

The Roadrunners kept the offensive momentum going in the second half.

Freshman forward Sebastian Aguero of Sedalia put his team ahead, scoring off of a set piece when he headed the ball into the back of the net with about 36 minutes remaining in the contest. He was assisted by freshman defender Joshua Chassang of Barbados.

SFCC took advantage of another set piece with about 31 minutes remaining in the match off another goal from Aguero, who was assisted by Hondroudakis on the play.

Freshman defender Leonardo Reis of Brazil finished the scoring when he attempted to clear a ball from midfield. The ball bounced over the goalkeeper's head who was slightly out of position.

SFCC registered 17 shots, 10 of which were on goal in the match.

Aguero led his team with four shots, three of which were on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Juan Jurkevicius got the start in the net for the Roadrunners, who made three saves.

Gabbert also saw time in goal for SFCC. He recorded one save. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Alex Haag of Stover played the final seven minutes in goal.

Almost every Roadrunner who was available to play in the match was able to play. Haag got his first official regular season minutes in goal.

"He has grown so much," said Beltran. "I wanted to get him an official minute. He works so hard in practice. He deserved to be on the field and I'm glad that we were able to get him in."

Oct. 7 St. Louis Community College at St. Louis

SFCC (5-6-3, 1-3 in the MCCAC, 2-3-1 Region 16) traveled to St. Louis to close out the Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference portion of their schedule on Sunday, Oct. 7 where SFCC lost the match 3-1 to St. Louis Community College.

The Archers opened the match with a pair of goals. St. Louis added another goal in the second half. SFCC got the offense going with a goal in the 77th minute from freshman midfielder Bosco Irankunda of Houston, Texas courtesy of a pass from Ledger to cut into the deficit. SFCC kept pushing numbers forward, but they would get no closer.

"We out possessed and outshot St. Louis in this game," said Beltran. "I feel like we outplayed St. Louis in this game in every way except for on the scoreboard. We made a couple mistakes early in the game that cost us."

Irankunda led SFCC in shots with four, three of which were on goal. The Roadrunners totaled 15 shots as a team. Jurkevicius made four saves in the match.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics