Homecoming on Eastern Mennonite University’s campus was one of the most important days for fall athletics. With three teams in action this week, the Royals won two of three games and had a good turnout for fan support. The Women’s Soccer team kicked off the day at noon playing Sweet Briar College. Sweet Briar coming into the game had just four wins and were winless in the ODAC. The Royals had a total of three wins and were hungry for a win on homecoming weekend. EMU won 2-0 with goals from Leah Beachy and Hailey Walker, and Beachy scored a goal for the third game in a row. This is Leonardo Alcoreza’s first season with the Royals as head coach, and a 2-0 win helps give the team momentum moving forward. When asked about how the season has gone, Beachy said, “We have a new coach who’s bringing a new philosophy and new tactics so it’s looking a lot different (than last year).” Beachy, a senior, is eighth in the ODAC for goals scored, and is quickly moving up in EMU’s all-time career points, with 18 goals now and eight assists, placing her in eighth. With a goal being two points and an assist being one, Beachy has 44 points and only needs seven more to be fifth all-time for the Royals.
The Men’s Soccer team had a difficult week prior to homecoming, with two draws to Shenandoah University, 2-2, and 1-1 against Randolph-Macon College. Coming in without a single ODAC win, the Royals really needed a victory on senior day. Randolph College, a small private college in Lynchburg, Va., had won against Shenandoah University 2-1 the previous Saturday. The game for EMU started tough with it being tied at the half 0-0, but the second half picked up pace. Oliver Rivera scored in the 54th minute and gave the Royals the lead. Rivera, a first-year midfielder out of Leesburg, Va., was assisted by Hamidullah Tokhi and Iverson Garcia, who are both also first-years. The second goal for the Royals came from Yan Cesar, a junior forward who scored his second goal of the season. Fernando Ventura and Kane Kiernan, both sophomores, got the assist. The last goal was scored in the 69th minute by Sage Dombrovkis of Randolph, making the score a 2-1 win for the Royals. EMU’s goalie, Andrew Arledge had a good day with two saves, he is also a senior on the team. Arledge said he had been looking forward to senior year and appreciated the support campus provided during homecoming to the athletic department.
The final game of the day was the Field Hockey team facing off against Roanoke College. It was a rough day for them as they would go on to lose 4-0 and continue their losing streak which now extends to 13 games. The team has opportunities to end the streak at home this week against Shenandoah University Wednesday and Sweet Briar College Saturday on senior day. The fans definitely helped the soccer teams with the large turnout, the largest this season so far for Men’s Soccer. Both teams had players express their gratitude for the fans showing up. The Women’s Soccer team got crushed by Bridgewater College 10-0 on Wednesday, and the Men’s Soccer team lost 3-1 to Virginia Wesleyan University. The lone goal came from Iverson Garcia by a penalty kick. The Men’s team followed up with a loss the Saturday afternoon of Fall Break, to #18 University of Lynchburg 6-0, while the Women’s team won at Averett University 4-1 with another goal from Leah Beachy. The Women’s team has senior day Saturday at 1:00 pm against Hollins University which will likely be Beachy’s last home game.
