ROLLA, Mo. – Following a week in which it vaulted from tenth to seventh in the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings, Missouri S&T's men's soccer team will try to secure its spot among the top eight teams in the league – which would earn it a spot in the conference tournament – during the final weekend of league play.
The Miners begin the weekend with a road trip to Liberty, Mo., to face William Jewell on Friday at 2:30 p.m., then wraps up the schedule with a pair of contests against two teams ahead of them in the GLVC race. S&T will host Rockhurst Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the S&T Soccer Field in its final home contest of the year before wrapping up the regular season slate Oct. 29 at Drury.
Thanks to a continued stretch of solid defense and the scoring of
Eduardo Abichabki (Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Brazil/Colegio Unigrau), the Miners made the jump into one of the playoff spots with a pair of one-goal victories at home over the past weekend. S&T overcame a 1-0 deficit against Illinois Springfield – the goal coming on a penalty kick – to win 2-1 over the Prairie Stars, then got a goal from Abichabki early in the second half to beat Southern Indiana 1-0 Sunday.
Abichabki, who also scored the game-winner Friday after assisting on
Alex Reifschneider (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township)'s tying goal late in the first half, leads S&T with four goals and three assists on the season.
Maxi Fuchs (Munich, Germany) – who had the assist on the Sunday goal – and
Mitch Morris (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) have two goals apiece.
James Holloway (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Notre Dame Regional) recorded his fifth shutout in goal for the Miners on Sunday as the Missouri S&T defense has allowed just two goals in its last five games. For the season, Holloway owns a 1.23 goals against average with 60 saves.
Friday's opponent, William Jewell, comes into play this weekend at 3-9-3 overall and 2-7-3 in the GLVC, but is the only team in the conference to put a blemish on league leader Quincy's record as it played the Hawks to a 1-1 tie earlier this month.
Aaron Froehlich, a freshman who was an all-state performer at Rolla High School during his prep career, leads the Cardinals in scoring with five goals on the season and has scored the game-winning goal in two of William Jewell's three wins. Goalkeeper Shane Van Hooser has made 89 saves and has recorded a 1.43 goals against average.
Rockhurst sits immediately ahead of the Miners in the GLVC standings at 7-3-2 in league play and is 7-4-2 overall. The Hawks have recorded a win and two ties since suffering a 2-1 loss at Illinois Springfield on Oct. 10; the win was a 2-0 victory over McKendree that was sandwiched by ties against Southern Indiana and Bellarmine.
Defense is still the name of the game for Rockhurst, who has held its opponents to a goals against average of 0.51. Stefano Radio has seen the bulk of the playing time in the nets for the Hawks and has also made 48 saves.
Michael Panarisi leads Rockhurst – an NCAA Division II semifinalist a year ago – in the scoring department with six goals and an assist for 13 points. Kaleb Jackson has scored three times and Adam Michel has assisted on four goals.
Missouri S&T will honor its seniors prior to the start of Sunday's contest.
Live Stats – Friday at William JewellLive Video – Friday at William JewellLive Stats – Sunday vs. Rockhurst
