Glendale, Ariz.- The Firestorm conceded a one-goal advantage late, but a successful penalty kick from midfielder Marlon Arce lifted ACU to a 2-1 win over Eastern Oregon. ACU needed all of their offensive effort, as Arce's goal helped edge the Mountaineers in shots on goal (8-7). Goalkeeper Carlos Gallardo kept his stellar resume alive with three crucial saves in each period.

Score:  Arizona Christian 2, Eastern Oregon 1
Records:  Arizona Christian 3-1-0 (0-0-0) | Eastern Oregon 0-2-2 (0-0-0)
Location: ACU Football Field - Glendale, AZ

STAT TRACKER

Marlon Arce - 1 goal, 4 shots on goal 
Cristhian Flores - 1 goal, 2 shots
Kaden Grub - 1 assist, 1 shot
Nolan Finch - 3 shots, 1 shot on goal
Carlos Gallardo - 6 saves

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

It did not take long for fireworks in today's match on Labor Day. In the 8th minute, defender Kaden Grub dissected the Eastern Oregon defense and directed a right-to-left crossing ball to Cristhian Flores, who sent it into the right side of the goal. Flores' second goal of the year positioned ACU in the drivers' seat (1-0) moving forward.

Goalkeeper Carlos Gallardo executed two saves in the following 12 minutes before a red card was awarded to EOU's Zhengning Lu. ACU controlled the remainder of the first half, recording seven shots to EOU's three. Despite four of these shots being on target, the Firestorm could not manage another blow to the Mountaineers.

Coming out of halftime, EOU pressured Gallardo and the ACU backline, yet initially did not succeed. Defender Tiago Soares received a red card in the 60th minute to equalize the penalty for each team. The Mountaineers remained persistent with their attack, and midfielder Yonas Mekonnen served up a corner kick to teammate Edgar Romero who pounded a 23-yard shot into the back of the net. Trailing for over 70 minutes, EOU had drawn level with ACU.

With no obvious scoring opportunity laid before him, ACU's Marlon Arce was fouled and awarded a penalty kick. Arce took full advantage of the break, and punched the ball in for the go-ahead goal. The Firestorm avoided any legitimate threat from the Mountaineers and hung on for a 2-1 victory.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH TED KRZYWIECKI

"We had once again a couple young guys step in and play some important minutes for us," Coach Krzywiecki said. "Today was an opportunity for some guys to step up who have not had minutes with a few guys missing from the lineup. Our freshman Horace Danitanga, Jose Garcia, Logan Johnson all gave us big minutes to hold down the midfield. Marlon was able to pull something out of nothing and earn and finish a PK for us… We know it doesn't get any easier with OIT on Thursday, we are excited to play another quality opponent."

NEXT MATCH

The Firestorm have two rest days before squaring off with Oregon Tech for their final home game until September 20th. Krzywiecki's squad searches for their fourth win in five matches when the game gets underway at 8:00 PM. Follow the action with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary or, if you cannot attend, watch the game at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/.   


Roll Storm!