Minneapolis, MN -- The North Central University (NCU) Men's Soccer team played their season opener on this beautiful September Saturday as the Rams hosted the Faith Baptist Bible College (FBBC) Eagles. Faith Baptist made the trip from Ankeny, Iowa, to Minneapolis to compete in today's game. In last season's matchup, the Rams won by a final of 5-1. This afternoon, NCU got the job done once more with a 3-1 win over the Eagles. Head Coach Keith Bleyer also secured his first win as a Ram!

The Rams put pressure on the Eagles defense from the kickoff. NCU fired off 4 shots in the first ten minutes to put the Eagles' keeper on edge early. Freshman forward, Sam Saye was active in the first half as the Minneapolis native totaled 6 shots in the first half. The first score came in the 29th minute as junior Alex Chacich drew a penalty kick and buried his first goal of the season off the PK. The momentum and excitement were short-lived as Faith Baptist immediately responded with a goal of their own just 2 minutes later to tie it up at 1-1. NCU rattled off 17 shots to just 1 by FBBC in the entire first half. However, even with the volume of shots taken, the teams found themselves tied headed into the half. 

North Central would not change their plan of attack in the second half, as the Rams continued to fire shots at the goal. In the 61st minute of the game, NCU's Rodrigo Vera Martinez set a beautiful through-ball to Rodrigo Burgos who out ran the Eagles' defender to score the Rams' second goal of the game and regain the lead. This would be Burgos's second goal of the week after scoring NCU's lone goal in their game versus Buena Vista on Wednesday. To continue his hot week, Rodrigo Burgos would find his speedy teammate, Alvin Wlejleh who found the back of the net to increase the lead to 3-1. That is where the game would stay as the Rams won their season opener. 

Today's box score can be found here.

Looking Ahead:

Men's Soccer will return to Elliot Park for another home contest next Wednesday, September 11th, this time a non-conference matchup versus Hamline University. That game begins at 3:30pm!

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on men's soccer and all things NCU Athletics.