Mountaineers Upend Rich Mountain

The Mountaineers stepped up to the challenge in a must win game and earned a 2-1 victory over conference opponent University of Arkansas Rich Mountain.  After going down 1-0 in the 12th minute on a goal off a Rich Mountain corner kick Eastern came back to score 2 goals of their own in the 2nd half to cruise to the 2-1 result.  

Eastern steadied themselves after the early setback and took control of the game, if not the scoreboard, with defensive organization from back to front and an advantage in possession.  Just before the break the Mountaineers were rewarded for their efforts on a tremendous run from Jose Ruarte, who after collecting the ball in traffic just inside the Rich Mountain half off some pretty combination play, weaved through the Rich Mountain defense and beat the goalkeeper to send Eastern into the half tied at 1-1.  Going into the second half it only looked like a matter of time before Eastern would go on top as they also had an advantage in chances created and shots on goal.  Finally, in the 58th minute, freshmen Florian Ouaddour cut in from a wide area and scored a great goal of his own to give Eastern the lead that they would never relinquish.  Eastern continued to threaten the Rich Mountain goal to close out the game and earned the 3 points needed to stay in control of their postseason destiny.  

The Mountaineers improved to 4-8-1, 2-6-1 in Region II play.

PLAY BY PLAY

- Eastern went down 1-0 12 minutes into the game

- In the 42nd minute Jose Ruarte tied the game at 1-1.

- Florian Ouaddour scored to put Eastern in front 2-1 in the 58th minute.

Coach E remarked:

"This one felt good.  I'm pleased for our group.  They have been building towards this result.  That's a good team over there on the Rich Mountain side.  They have an athletic, talented group that will be a tough out when we finally get to tournament seeding.  Our team has persevered through some disappointing results, some due to the quality of our schedule and a few bad bounces, and some in part due to our own deficiencies.  That one could easily have gone the other way, in fact a few days ago it wouldn't be hard to imagine things falling apart for us after going down 1-0.  I'm proud of our group; they played hard for 90 minutes.  We  played well enough to win and got the bounces we needed tonight." Evan said. "We can feel good about the result knowing that there is still more out there for us.  We are still looking to play a complete game for 90 minutes.  The good news is that we put ourselves in position to qualify for the tournament and have kept our season alive.  We need to take care of our business as far as our preparation these next few days and then get the job done versus Murray State."

GAME NOTES

- The Mountaineers took 21 shots and placed 12 on target.

- Ouaddour netted his first goal in an Eastern Uniform.

- Freshmen Will Wicks and Carlos Dias Neto combined for 5 saves in the win.

Eastern is back at home vs Murray State on Sunday Oct. 27 at  3 p.m.