Penalty Kick Haunts JBU for Second Time in Two Days
MOBILE, Ala. (August 22, 2015) -- For the second time in two days, a penalty kick has provided the difference against the John Brown men’s soccer program, this time in a difficult 2-1 defeat at No. 6 Mobile (Ala.) tonight at The Jungle.
Last night, a penalty kick stood as the game-winner in John Brown’s loss at William Carey (Miss.). Tonight, fate struck again in the same way. Already with a 1-0 lead in hand, a late whistle behind the play after a corner kick against the Golden Eagles handed the hosts with a penalty kick against sophomore goalkeeper Adam Holt.
Despite being unable to stop the attempt last night, Holt lunged correctly this time. As Newton Henry struck the ball, Holt dove to his right, stopping the attempt. The rebound, however, dropped right back in front of Newton, who made no mistake by burying a wild kick into the top right corner.
The loss comes in a contest that saw JBU out-shoot the No. 6 team in the nation on its home pitch by a 16-9 margin. The Golden Eagles also doubled up the Rams in corner kicks, 6-3. A few times, however, UM goalkeeper Elijah Gibson came up big, including in the 84th minute when freshman Santiago Venegas undressed a pair of defenders up the right flank. After cutting into the middle, Venegas unleashed a left-footed bomb, forcing Gibson to dive to his left to make the save.
Down 2-1 with just 30 seconds on the clock, a header from freshman Giaovani Bejarano fell wide, sending John Brown to an 0-2-0 start to the season. With the win, the Rams improve to 1-1-0 in 2015.
The Rams struck first in the 28th minute to break the scoreless deadlock. George Stannard chased down a ball destined to cross the JBU goal line in the corner. Stannard took advantage of a relaxed John Brown defense and turned into the middle and placed a pass right on the foot of the oncoming Pierre Mangould, who was streaking down the center. Mangould one-touched a strike into the left side of the net, beating Holt for a 1-0 Rams lead.
The Golden Eagles would respond, however, when UM was whistled for a caution deep inside Ram territory. Freshman Ryan Williams placed a free kick perfectly into the center of the box where, eventually, sophomore Douglas Oliveira discovered the ball at his feet and rifled it home to cut Mobile’s lead in half, 2-1.
The Golden Eagles fired five shots in the final 10 minutes, including three on net, but Gibson (1-1-0) was equal to the task, collecting six saves in the win. Holt (0-2-0) played an outstanding match and made five stops in the loss.
Venegas and freshman Conner Haney led John Brown with four shots apiece, with Venegas sending three of his four on target. UM’s Henry led the hosts with four shots, three on goal, in the win. Both teams totaled seven shots on goal in the highly-contested match.
JBU falls to 0-5-0 all-time against the Rams.
The Golden Eagles will regroup and return to Siloam Springs for its home opener on Aug. 28 against Central Baptist (Ark.). Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Alumni Field.
