Box Score It looked like Friday's contest at Guilford might be low-scoring until the teams scored a combined three goals in the final 17:01 of regulation. The Royals scored two of those within four minutes of each other to seal a huge ODAC road win, 3-2.
Things started well as the men broke through quickly, scoring on the game's first shot. After a corner kick from Kevin Chico (Harrisonburg, VA/Eastern Mennonite), senior Philip Yoder (Keezletown, VA/Spotswood) put in his first goal of the season just 5:43 in.
But Guilford struck back less than seven minutes later, when Freddy Gomez singlehandedly got past three EMU defenders and nailed a shot from six yards out to tie the game at 1-1.
Although neither team would score again in the half, the Quakers started to dominate play with the Royals' Patrick Fox (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) having six saves already at the break.
The second half puttered along until Chico got the fireworks going in the 73rd minute when he split Guilford's defenders and beat the keeper one-on-one. Four minutes later, Mitchell Leap (Harrisonburg, VA/Eastern Mennonite) hit a breakaway shot from the 18 to make it 3-1.
The lead seemed safe with 13 minutes left, and Quakers started to look frustrated. Ronnie Castellanos provided the home team with a bit of hope, hitting the net with 5:42 to go, but Eastern Mennonite held on for the win.
The men were out-shot 24-14 and 12-7 on goal, but they led in the most important stat – goals. Fox racked up 10 saves, his first double-digit save effort in an EMU uniform. Yoder and Chico each had two shots in a balanced attack.
With the win, Eastern Mennonite takes over first place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference standings at 5-1. Roanoke, which will play Saturday, is 4-0-1.
The Royals, now 7-6-1 overall, have a full week off to prepare for their final four games of the season. That stretch starts next Saturday, when EMU hosts Virginia Wesleyan at 7:00pm as part of Homecoming.
