By The Fighting Saints Soccer treated Homecoming fans to two rousing wins. The Saints beat Rocky Mountain 3-0 on Friday, Sept. 20, and followed that up with a 7-0 win over Walla Walla on Sunday, Sept. 22.
Against Rocky, Felix Billard, a sophomore psychology major from Mallorca, Spain, scored Carroll’s first goal in the 32nd minute with the second scored by Luke Rosenberger, a fifth year accounting major from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, following shortly behind. The third goal was scored by Joseph Satterthwaite, a junior accounting major from Las Vegas, Nevada.
On Sunday, September 22, the Saints delivered a commanding shutout against Walla Walla University, marking a strong conclusion to the weekend. This impressive performance serves as a crucial momentum boost as they prepare to enter conference play.
The Saints headed to California the weekend of Sept. 13, playing Life Pacific and Westcliff University to get two non-conference games under their belt. The Saints beat Life Pacific 4-0 and tied with Westcliff. The non-conference play included a 1-2 loss to Whitworth and a tie with MSU Billings.
The team’s first conference game was against Rocky Mountain College on Sept. 20 at Nelson Stadium, where they took on the Bears after their first-ever win against them last year.
Last year was Austin Shick’s first season with the Saints Men’s Soccer Team as Head Coach where the team ended with an 8-4-4 record.
Sean Balen, Justus Herrman, Mathias Gravesen
“We feel optimistic about our approaching conference schedule,” Shick said. “We were undefeated on the road last year and those same road games are now home games this year. We still need to execute our game plans, fight and get results, but there is definitely a mentality in the group that we can achieve big things.”
The team returns four super seniors from last year, 12 newcomers from across the US, as well as few international students. With team leaders back from last season and a strong athletic presence from the sophomore and junior classes, the Saints are optimistic.
“I am most excited to see what our experiences can bring us as we start our second campaign,” said Shick. “We have heard hard and valuable lessons as a group and become strong through that adversity.”
The team has set goals for their new season with a big one, winning the conference championship.
“I think anything we put in our goals is obtainable. We feel if we play well something special is on the horizon,” says Shick.
Already in pre-season matches, Sean Balen, a sophomore in health sciences and defender from Mukilteo, Washington, scored the first goal for the Saints against MSU Billings on Sept. 5.
“It was great, and a really nice way to start the season on a personal note,” Balen said. “It gave us a lot of momentum in the game that we then used to take the lead.”
Alfie Snow, a freshman forward and psychology major from Middlesbrough, England, followed in Sean’s footsteps against MSU Billings and put another goal on the scoreboard for the Saints, his first with the Fighting Saints.
“To score my first Carroll goal is an amazing feeling, first of many hopefully,” Snow said. “The support I’ve had from the team since I arrived has been amazing. I can only expect a lot of big things from the men’s soccer program this year.”
