Guilford men’s soccer matched up against EMU on Saturday and lost a hard game in their third ODAC match up.

The air was crisp and the bleachers of Armfield Athletic Center were nearly full last Saturday night as the men’s soccer team took the field against Eastern Mennonite University. Guilford came out strong and matched the intensity of the visiting Royals. With 12 total shots, and only nine fouls, compared to the Royals’ 13, it was clear that the Quakers had their “alligator blood” pumping. Unfortunately, the Quakers couldn’t match the Royals’ goal-count, and lost a close match 4-3. The men now carry a 7-5-1 record.

“I feel that we fell short at the finish line, and not because of lack of effort,” said sophomore midfielder Tamer El-Amoor. “It was a well-fought match on both sides, and we can give (EMU) a hand for playing so well.”

This was just the fourth Old Dominion Athletic Conference game for the Quakers, and with both teams fighting to climb the conference standings, aggression was high.

During the game, there were 22 fouls called and six yellow cards given out: three to the Quakers, and three to the Royals.

“We’ve got to keep cooler heads, so we can play a physical but fair game,” said head coach Jeff Bateson after the game.

The 195 fans that attended the game whooped and hollered as the game began. Within the first 10 minutes, a foul was called on Guilford, but the Royals’ free kick would prove to be beneficial to the Quakers.

First-year forward Ronnie Castellanos stole the ball off the free kick and dribbled away from Royal defenders and toward the Mennonite goal. After a sprint past midfield, and a spin past the last defender, Castellanos stepped back and launched a shot from the top of the box into the left bottom corner of the goal, brushing the fingertips of Royal goalie Dillon Brunks.

The goal that gave the Quakers a 1-0 lead was also Castellanos’ eighth goal of the season.

The Royals responded to the score, quickly. Within two minutes following the Quakers’ goal, Mennonite midfielder Osman Velasquez shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the side netting of the goal, tying the score.

Forward Mitchel Leap scored the Royal’s second goal eight minutes later, which put the Royals in the lead. Following half time, Royal’s player Tyler Gilchrist scrambled for the pass off of a free kick and gave the Royals a two-goal lead.

“We need to work on free kicks,” said sophomore defender Ethan Byrd. “We’ll work on (those) and we’ll come out and kick some butt (next game).”

The Quakers didn’t let the goals ruin their spirit. With less than 17 minutes left, sophomore Sean Dwyer received a pass from the opposite side of the box and quickly crossed the ball to sophomore Jordan Alexander. The pass landed on Alexander’s foot and his volley-shot through a mass of Royal defenders found the back of the net.

The hope that the Quakers would tie-up the game was lost momentarily as Leap scored another goal for the Royals, making the score, 4-2 with only six minutes left in the game.

“Our team fights back incredibly hard,” said Alexander. “A goal is scored and we don’t get our heads down.”

The Quakers had another scoring chance soon after when the ball was back near the Royal defense; a pass was made to Alexander who found Castellanos on the outside edge of the six-yard box. Castellanos faked out two defenders and shot a goal past Brunk.

With just over three-minutes remaining after Castellanos’ second goal of the night, the Quakers were unable to score a tying goal. The buzzer sounded as 0:00 lit up the clock.

Guilford players weren’t too beaten down, and have high hopes for their remaining games.

“The ball could have bounced a different way and we could have won,” said Alexander. This is just a small stumbling block on the way to a great season”.