EMBRY-RIDDLE

Aug. 31, 2013 | Lawrenceville, Ga. | GGC Athletic Complex
Box Score

	2	0	2
	0	0	0

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Eagles started the 2013 campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Georgia Gwinnett College on Saturday night.

The Eagles started the game well and began to confidently knock he ball about at the back despite the turf pitch being very wet.

Before the game, ERAU Assistant Coach John Haworth predicted that freshman forward Sigurbergur Ellison would be the one to break the deadlock.  Haworth's prediction came true after just eight minutes.

Forward Veit Couturier beat one defender and released speedy winger Niklas Petersson down the left side.Petersson whipped a cross in low and hard to the back post, where Ellison arrived right on time to smash home a debut goal for the Eagles.

After the opening goal, the Eagles continued to dominate possession and looked good with their one goal lead.

In the 29th minute Couturier picked the ball up just outside the Grizzlies' box, megged a defender and was brought down for a free kick.

The Eagles' captain Ally MacDonald stood over the free kick, and before the Grizzlie defense had a chance to get set, he played a quick pass into the box to senior forward Jacob Stevenback. Stevenback controlled the ball and was brought down from behind before he had chance to shoot. The clever play from MacDonald and Stevenback earned the Eagles a penalty.

Couturier stepped up to take the penalty and slotted it away nicely to put the Eagles two goals to the good.

It took the Grizzlies 35 minutes to muster their first shot on target. The Grizzlies' left winger cut inside onto his right foot and blasted a shot towards junior goalkeeper Nils Carlson's near post. Carlson was equal to the shot and pushed the ball out for a corner. From the resulting corner Carlson made another great save to keep the Grizzlies at bay.  

In the 43rd minute Ellison nearly doubled his tally for the season. MacDonald played Petersson down the left; this time Petersson chipped a cross to the edge of the box where Ellison was waiting, Ellison hit the cross first time on the volley but was denied by the Grizzlie goalkeeper.  

Right on the stroke of half time Eagle trainer Kelly Harrison was called into action. Senior forward Viktor Gudnason went up for a header and took a nasty blow to the head. The injury looked bad from the sidelines, but Gudnason was straight to his feet and wanting to carry on.

At half time the Eagles had a comfortable 2-0 lead, however, that didn't stop ERAU Head Coach Dave Gregson from tweaking a few things during the break.  

As expected, the Grizzlies came out flying in the second half. It seemed as if they had had a telling off from their coach about their sub-par first half performance.
 
Tackles started to fly in, and the referee issued a few yellow cards. Fortunately the Eagles were able to maintain their composure and continued to keep possession of the ball.

The 60th minute of the game brought about the best attack of the contest. The attack began at left back with MacDonald, who played a pass up the line to Petersson, Petersson started to dribble inside, which drew the Grizzlies left back out of position and opened up some space for MacDonald to run into.  MacDonald needed no second invitation, and immediately made a run into the space created for him by Petersson. Petersson recognised the run of his captain and played a no-look reverse pass into the space for MacDonald to run onto. Macdonald took the ball in his stride and crossed the ball low and hard to the back post, where Ellison arrived right on cue again. Ellison side-footed the ball goalwards, but his finish hit the heel of a defender who was making a last ditch attempt to block the shot.

Minutes later the Grizzlies had the chance that they had been waiting for. A free kick from the right was not cleared properly by the Eagles defense, and the ball broke free inside the box to a Grizzlies' striker. The striker was pulled back by an Eagle defender and the referee awarded a penalty.

This was a pivotal moment of the game for the Eagles. A goal at this time for the Grizzlies would have cut the deficit to one goal and made it an uncomfortable end to the game for the Eagles.

The Grizzlie forward struck the ball low and hard to Carlson's right, Carlson was at full stretch to save the shot and push it to safety. It was a great penalty save, and meant that the Eagles maintained their two goal advantage.  

The Grizzlies became increasingly frustrated at not being able to get back into the game and they were down to 10 men in the 75th minute.  The Grizzlies had a man sent off for a bad tackle on freshman midfielder Magnus Magnusson. The man of steel jumped straight up and carried on, where most would have stayed down and needed medical attention.

The Grizzlies were starting to lose their composure, and five minutes later they had their captain sent off for punching the ball away after the referee had given a foul against him.
 
After the third red card, the game became like a training ground exercise for the Eagles. Embry-Riddle kept the ball for the last five minutes of the game against the eight Grizzlies that were left on the pitch.

The game finished 2-0 to the Eagles and was a great way to start the 25th year of the program.

Gregson was pleased with the performance and the victory. "It was great to get a result on the road, and it was a very good performance. It gives us momentum to go into our next game against a strong Rollins' squad next Saturday,' Gregson said.

Gregson's squad returns to Daytona Beach to host NCAA II No. 9 Rollins at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium next Saturday at 7 p.m.