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Daniel Whelan had two goals and an assist against St. Xavier on Saturday during the Eagles´ 4-0 win. Coupled with a 3-1 win over Northwood, the men´s team has jumped into the NAIA national top ten.

No. 8 Eagles continue winning streak at home

Whelan, Yoffe lead team to two victories during week

By: Chris Tezak

Posted: 10/18/05

The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team wrapped up their home schedule for the year with a 3-1 win over Northwood and a 4-0 shutout over St. Xavier. In the process the Eagles jumped back into the NAIA national top 10, moving to eighth, up four spots from their previous position.

Two Eagle veterans continued their excellent play this week. No. 8 Daniel Whelan and No. 9 Joe Yoffe added to their already huge offensive numbers this season. Whelan put up two goals and an assist against Xavier, while Yoffe added a score to his team high 11 goals. Freshmen No. 18 Peter Masters and No. 3 Richard Genge showcased the future of the team by adding two goals and three assists.

Genge and Yoffe highlighted the game against Northwood. The two combined on the first and last goals of the game, assisting each other's goals. The first came after No. 10 Ian Thompson gave a hard challenge to a Northwood defender and won the ball. His touch went to Genge, who made a short pass to Yoffe who drilled it into the net. The third goal of the night came in the 57th minute with a long play in the box that started with a run by Genge. The ball was played by three other Eagles in the box and ended up back on the foot of Genge, who put it past the keeper.

In Saturday's game against St. Xavier, the Eagles showed the past, present and future of the team. Senior, No. 5, Danny Collins celebrated his final regular season home game with a score, his second of the season. Collins scored with a header off a cross by Whelan late in the first half. Whelan went on to score his two goals in the game with assists from Thompson and Masters. Masters scored after a ball from No. 14, Craig Oldis, found his foot. A run down the middle of the field and a shot past a charging Xavier keeper gave him his third goal of the season.

The Eagles, with their blanking of the Cougars, have a total of six shutouts on the season. The Eagles have allowed only 12 goals this season in comparison to the 41 they have scored. Even with the seemingly great play from the Eagles, head coach David Gregson believes there is still room for improvement, "I think we're still looking for that elusive perfect performance. But each game we're getting better at different aspects of our play. The important thing is that we keep winning and we keep improving, so that we're playing our best stuff in November."

The Eagles will try to add on to their six-game winning streak on Oct. 21 in a game against NCAA division II team Nova Southeastern.