Friday, October 04, 2002

Two first half goals propelled Oral Roberts to a 2-1 victory over Valparaiso on Friday afternoon at Eastgate Field.

Sun Potter put the Golden Eagles on the board in the 5th minute when he took a centering pass from Troy Vaut and found the back of the net inside of five yards out. Potter then set Vaut up for a blast from 20 yards out just off of Marc Cilfone's (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage H.S.) hands at the 31:52 mark to put Oral Roberts up 2-0 before intermission.

Each team had three shots in the first half but picked the number up in the second stanza.

Ben Olson (Oregon, Wis./Oregon H.S.) got the Crusaders within one after heading home a rebound off of a Valpo corner kick. Brian Hirth (Columbia State, Ohio/Columbia H.S.) drew the assist.

Valpo (3-6-1, 1-1 Mid-Con) outshot the Golden Eagles 15-11 in the match, but could not push another goal past Hector Zapata. Zapata ended the match making five saves, while Cilfone made the same number for the Brown and Gold.

The Crusaders also held a 10-2 advantage on corner kicks, while Oral Roberts (6-4-0, 1-0) committed 27 fouls to Valpo's 21.

Valparaiso will return to action on Sunday afternoon when the Crusaders travel to Butler for a 2:30 p.m. match with the Bulldogs.