Eagles Drop Season Opener 4-1 to Park

Parkville, MO. - The Avila Men's Soccer Team opened its 2009 campaign Saturday afternoon with a tough defeat at the hands of Park University. Park scored three first half goals to take a 3-0 lead into the locker room which ended up being to tough to overcome. The Eagles played a strong second half allowing a late goal while Senior Jason Jacob scored the lone goal for the Eagles on a penalty kick in the 88th minute.

Avila fired 5 shots in the match with Jacob tallying all of them. Junior Goalkeeper Chris Calicak made 3 saves to help the Eagles cause. Despite the loss, the game was a great learning experience for the team as they continue to prepare for conference play.

Overall Coach Clements was pleased but knows the team has plenty of room to improve, "Although I am never pleased with a loss, I thought our kids played with passion today and really worked well in our system. Park is a heck of a soccer team and we knew it would be a tough task to come into this stadium where they have not lost since 2007. We learned a lot about our team today and I am very excited to get back to work on Monday to continue to get better."

The Eagles will look to rebound Friday in a tilt with Missouri Baptist in Lebanon, IL on the campus of McKendree University. The match is set to start at 7 P.M.