Aug. 28 Central Methodist University at Fayette, Missouri
The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners picked up their first victory of the season with a 3-0 win over the Central Methodist University Eagles on Wednesday, Aug. 28 in Fayette, Missouri.
Sophomore forward Aaron Latimer of Amarillo, Texas opened the scoring for the Roadrunners in the 32nd minute off of an assist from sophomore defender Jackson Ralph of New Zealand. SFCC took a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Roadrunners added another goal in the 47th minute from freshman Jordan Bishop of Australia. SFCC finished the scoring in the 81st minute with a goal from sophomore defender Rafael Dragon of Brazil, off of a pass from sophomore midfielder Mani Hondroudakis of Australia.
"All three of our goals in this game, were the first career goal for each of these players at SFCC," said Roadrunners Soccer Head Coach Jaime Beltran. "It was good to see our team bounce back from a tough game last time out. We made a couple adjustments in this game and those adjustments worked."
SFCC took 28 shots as a team, 16 of which were on goal. Bishop led the team with seven shots, four of which were on goal. Sophomore forward/goalkeeper Sebastian Aguero of Sedalia recorded a shutout for SFCC in his first appearance in the net. He came up with six saves in the match.
Aug.31 Southwestern Illinois College at Belleville, Illinois
SFCC picked up their second win of the season on Saturday, Aug. 31, by a score of 3-1 over the Southwestern Illinois College Blue Storm in Belleville, Illinois.
"I feel like we had control for the entire game," said Beltran. "The goal that Southwestern Illinois scored was off of a long throw-in, where we made a marking mistake and their player just out jumped us. It was a good goal, but I feel like we should have done a little better. Overall, it was a good showing for our team. We were able to keep possession and we had four or five instances where we connected 20 passes in a row."
Bishop got SFCC on the scoreboard in the 17th minute off of a pass from Hondroudakis. The Roadrunners struck again in the 48th minute when freshman defender James Nuku of New Zealand scored a goal with an assist from freshmen defender Chichi Shoniwa of Lesotho. Hondroudakis finished the scoring for SFCC with an unassisted goal in the 66th minute. The Roadrunners recorded 23 shots as a team, 12 of which were on goal. Bishop led the team with seven shots, four of which were on goal.
Aguero got the start in goal for SFCC. He made six saves in the game.
Sept.1 North Iowa Area Community College at Tiger Stadium in Sedalia
Roadrunner fans had their first opportunity to see SFCC play in Sedalia on Sunday, Sept. 1. SFCC lost the game 1-0 to North Iowa Area Community College from Mason City, Iowa. The game was moved from Clover Dell Park to Tiger Stadium at Smith-Cotton High school due to field conditions.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the first half. The game remained scoreless into the second half when the Trojans found the back of the net with less than 40 minutes remaining in the contest.
"We had double the number of opportunities to score than they had," said Beltran. "We just didn't finish. Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way. It was a close game, both teams played well. We just need to move on and get back to work."
Hondroudakis led SFCC in shots with five, three of which were on goal. Shoniwa registered four shots, two of which were on goal.
Aguero made four saves in the match for SFCC.
SFCC (2-2-1) will travel to Northeastern Oklahoma A & M College in Miami, Oklahoma on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
David Rohrbach
SFCC Athletics