Jay Daubenberger

Liberal, KAN. – Seward County men’s soccer took the field Saturday afternoon for their second of four straight home games to open their inaugural season and the Saints made history for their program with their first ever win after taking down Tabor College 1-0.
The Saints and Bluejays started the matchup exchanging possessions between one another for the first eighteen minutes of the first half until finally Seward County was able to take full control. After taking multiple shots to take the lead over Tabor, Emmanuel Ortuno connected with Freddie Walker on a cross field pass from the corner that led to Walker sinking one to the top left corner for the first goal of the game that put the Saints up 1-0. Seward County remained in full control over the Bluejays for the rest of the half, keeping them scoreless heading into halftime with the Saints leading 1-0.
Momentum was in the Saints’ hands as they remained in control throughout the second half against Tabor. Seward County was able to remain in the lead throughout the second half due to their ability to limit the Bluejays’ possessions as the Saints kept the ball on their side of the field while constantly testing the opposing goalkeeper with shot after shot on goal. It wasn’t until there was less than a minute to go when Tabor was able to take full possession of the ball and attempt to tie it up, but freshman goalkeeper Ashton Miller refused to give up the Saints lead as he recorded his second save to end the game in a shutout victory for Seward County.
Constantly on the attack, the Saints attempted a total of 15 shots with 6 of them being on goal. Walker connected on his only shot of the game for his first career goal off the assist from Ortuno. Leandro Suarez took three shots on the afternoon with two of them on goal while Mateo Molina took two shots of his own with one almost connecting for a goal. Miller finished the Saints first ever shutout with two saves including one with less than a minute to end the game.
Seward County will return to action on Wednesday, August 30th against Cowley College at Redskin Field for an 8:00 PM matchup for their third of four straight home games to kick off their inaugural season.