MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- The 19th-ranked Life University men's soccer team found itself in a hole through the first half of play on the road at upset-minded, Southern States Athletic Conference foe, Faulkner, but a solid second half effort helped buoy the team to a 2-1 victory late Thursday night. 

Life U (8-1-1, 2-1-1 SSAC) continues its excellent 2022 Fall season as they continue to inch closer to 10 regular season victories, while Faulkner (4-5-1, 1-1-1 SSAC) proved to be a very scrappy, tough to put away team. The game played out as a low shot count, defensive struggle, Life U holding a shooting lead of 14-9 and the teams only combined for three corner kicks. Faulkner's goalkeeper did a good job with the number of shots on frame he faced, helping his team to a 9-3 edge in saves. The referees ended up having to be rather involved with the contest, calling the Eagles on more fouls, 17-12, and yellow cards, 5-3.

Faulkner's lone goal of the game came very early, the team breaking through for a score in the 11th minute before Life U had taken its first shot. The Running Eagles took three shots from that point over the rest of what was a very defensively played first, but ccould not find the back of the net as they went into the half down 1-0. 

The second half saw Life U turn up the offensive intensity, putting immense amounts of pressure on what had been a surprising performance by the Eagles' defense to that point. 12 minutes into the period, the Running Eagles finally broke through for a score, Luciano Diaz extending his scoring streak with a goal that was assisted by Bart Kooistra. Forwards Thierry Jules and Diaz continued putting pressure on the Eagles, putting shots on frame, but it was sophomore Manuel Carrillo that recorded the game winning goal on what was his first score of the season. Over the last 16 minutes, Faulkner found a couple good scoring opportunities, but Luka Zakarija shut them down, earning all three of his saves on the game seeing the team pull off the 2-1 road victory.

Head coach Alex Pama was impressed by the way his team responded to a less than ideal start. "This was an important win pushing us closer to the national tournament. A true team effort. We struggled in the beginning of the match but once we changed our game plan and strategy we came back strong." Pama closed, saying, "The work rate was excellent in the second half and the basis for our 8th win of the season."

The Running Eagles return home for their next contest, facing another huge conference test in No. 3 Dalton State October 15th at 3:30 PM.