LEAD

ANKENY, Iowa -- The Sabercats made it two straight wins today, picking up a 4-1 win over Faith Baptist Bible College.

Zeke Steuerwald, Kevin Risma, and Tyler Nelson all got on the scoresheet, as the Sabercats left no stone unturned on the weekend.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 4-1 Faith
• Venue: Pyche Field, Faith Baptist Bible College
• Location: Ankeny, Iowa
• Attendance: 125
• Records: MBU (8-6-2), FBBC (8-10-0)

STORY

Early pressure turned into early goals for Maranatha, as Zeke Steuerwald opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he calmly slotted a breakaway past the Faith goalkeeper for the early lead.

Just seven minutes later, Steuerwald produced a carbon copy of the first goal, getting on the end of a perfectly-weighted chipped pass from Austin DeAngelo. The Sabercats were looking positive, and Faith was on the back foot.

The third goal came from Risma just a few minutes after he entered the game as a substitute. After a cross from Joel Shepard and a deflected shot from Eldiiar Amankulov, Risma headed the bouncing ball into the back of the net from about 12 yards out.

Entering halftime, the Sabercats had a three-goal cushion.

The cushion stood, as the teams traded goals in the second half. The more spectacular of the two was Nelson's, as the senior scored his fourth goal in three games with a left-footed laser into the top-left corner from outside the penalty area. Nelson's goal came four minutes into the second half, and the Sabercats looked to be coasting to the finish line.

And coast they did, but it wasn't without a warning shot from faith. After earning a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, Chase Clark stepped up and buried the shot from 12 yards to make it 4-1. That was the best that Faith had to offer, although Tim Kinzler made two diving saves in the second half to keep the Eagles at arm's length.

After 90 minutes of hard-fought soccer, the Sabercats had their second NCCAA regional win on the weekend, and it's two wins that could be important in light of the seedings for the North Region Tournament.

--

MBU Starters: 1- Kinzler, 4- Roer, 7- Nelson, 8- Campbell, 9- Wright, 10-St. Lawrence (C), 11- DeAngelo (C), 12- Steuerwald, 15- J. Hockema, 18- Shepard, 19- C. Hockema (C)

STATS

• Shot count: Maranatha 28-12 Faith
• Steuerwald: leads the team with 8 goals on the season
• Nelson: leads the team with 21 points on the season
• Nelson: has scored in 3 consecutive games
• Amankulov: first career assist
• Kinzler: 7 saves on the day
• MBU: finishes the regular season above .500 for the first time since 2014
• Last time: Maranatha won 4-0 at home on September 17
• Series: Maranatha now leads the all-time series 7-1-0

OPPONENTS

• Faith competes with Maranatha for the NCCAA North Region
• Faith recently posted consecutive wins against Emmaus Bible College

NEXT

The Sabercats will begin preparations for the NCCAA North Region Tournament, which will be held at Faith November 7-9. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.