MONTGOMERY, Ala. - 22nd ranked Faulkner (6-2, 2-1 SSAC) picked up a resounding 4-0 win Thursday night at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium over (RV) Xavier (3-3, 1-1 SSAC) in the first Southern States Athletic Conference home game of the season.
After waiting 26 days for another home game after the season opener,
Bernardo Juca did not make the Eagle fans wait long to celebrate another home goal. In the sixth minute,
Konsti Witte delivered a diagonal through ball to the left wing where the Brazilian dribbled forward and struck his fourth goal of the season with the left foot. It was Juca's eighth goal contribution of the season and the sixth different match recording either a goal or an assist with Witte giving his third assist of the season.
In the 11th minute, Xavier's Cole Spady shot to the top left corner but
Andre Ferreira robbed him to keep it level.
The chance proved to be the only severe threat on goal as the Eagles held the Gold Rush to just two shots on target and eight total shots all evening as Ferreira picked up his third clean sheet of the season.
In the 60th minute, Xavier goalkeeper Lenno Schmidt stepped out of the penalty area to catch the ball and was assessed a yellow card while giving a free kick 19 yards out. Pepé Riofrio stepped up to it and thundered it into the top right corner with authority to make it 2-0. It was his first goal of the season.
In the 75th,
Leo Freire won the ball in his defensive end and dribbled through the Xavier defense to create a squaring opportunity but was fouled on the pass in the box giving a penalty to the Eagles. Freire stepped up and scored, becoming just the second Eagle with 20 career goals.
In the 85th minute, Santiago Magaña pressed high and won the ball back before creating a one-two with
Julio Cesar before the New Mexico native struck home his first varsity goal to make it 4-0. It was Cesar's eighth assist in his career giving him 26 goal contributions across 50 matches.
Faulkner is 3-2 in its six game stretch against teams receiving votes or better and will conclude the span with the first ranked soccer matchup at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium with No. 5 William Carey coming to town Saturday afternoon.
