8.27.07 Crusaders in Six Goal Thriller

Last year's #3 team in the nation Southern Nazarene from Oklahoma were left out of the pre-season polls but on the evidence of this past weekend they will be back in the national rankings again soon. On Friday (24th) they downed the #24 University of Mobile (0-1) by a goal to nil and then followed that up the next day with a win over the 2007 fledgling Crusaders (1-1) in a high scoring clash.

The game Saturday (25th) was played on a slick surface after torrential mid-day rain but both teams adapted well. It was an even game until Eric Ouedraogo (below) broke the early deadlock in the 16th minute. The Crusaders were even more unfortunate to fall further behind to the same player on 27 minutes. The forward pace of Ouedraogo was troublesome to the home defense which started two freshmen in the center. Although falling behind the Crusaders still continued to create and trouble the Crimson Storm defense. It was no surprise when Jr. Jared Wooley cut the lead in the 38th minute and Storm net minder Eguren finished the first period the busier keeper. 

The Crusaders came out fired up for the second period knowing they were still very much alive and kicking. Wooley set up So. Scott Beatty to level matters within 3 minutes of the restart and it was the Crusaders who had the impetus. Prompted by Jr. Chris Schaefer they took control and dominated the possession game with the Storm relying on long ball breakaways which were causing the Crusader backline problems. From one of those breaks in the 63rd minute Ouedraogo skipped away from Fr. James Taylor who failed to deal with a slippery ball to net his teams third and his own hat-trick. Although the Crusaders continued to press it was that man Ouedraogo who wrapped things up with a fourth following another defensive slip and the game was suddenly moving beyond the home team's reach. With 20 mins. to go the Crusaders fought hard to reduce the deficit but the Crimson Storm defense and goalkeeper David Eguren held firm. Eguren had eight saves on the night to compliment Ouedraogo's scoring exploits.

Crusader coach Nigel Boulton was still pleased with his team saying, "We played well and fully deserved to be level at 2-2. The game could have gone either way at that point but we slipped up on defense and they didn't. I have far more positives to come out of this game than negatives. We know we can play better on defense once we get the new players jelling and they get some experience at the college level. We had no fewer than sixteen players carrying bangs or injuries during the week and some of those were carried into the game. We had others who were unable to play at all and once we get everyone back we will have a strong team and bench. I am proud of my players today, it's a much overused word, but I am proud. I'm confident that good times are ahead".