Over this last weekend, the Bears made the long trek to Ankeny, IA to take on Emmaus Bible College (Dubuque, IA) and Faith Baptist Bible College. Both games had Midwest Christian College Conference implications. Emmaus is in their first year of transitioning into the MCCC and will be allowed to play in the MCCC Tournament in the ladder part of October, while Faith had propelled to #5 in the NCCAA Division II national polls after some early season success.

On a cold, overcast fall day in Ankeny, IA the Bears took on Emmaus Bible College Friday afternoon.  Although Barclay controlled the possession, it took most of the first half before the ball finally found the back of the net.  Freshman Julio Cobo (Katy, TX) and Freshman Josh Moore (Houston, TX) recorded two goals apiece late in the first half to put the Bears up 4-0 at halftime.  During the second half, a highlight came off of a beautifully placed pass which fell right at the feet of Freshman forward Tyler Wright (Mulvane, KS), who one-touched it in for an impressive goal.  Cobo recorded his first collegiate “hat trick” with three goals in the game.  Other notables included both Moore and Wright finishing with two goals and one assist apiece.  Junior Kingsley Assibey (Accra, Ghana), and Sophomore Melvin Lara (Katy, TX) also scored goals in the second half off of assists from Freshman Chris Bujano (Houston, TX), and Freshman Josh Hernandez (Houston, TX).  The final score was 9-1 and improved the Bears to 4-0 on the season.

On Saturday afternoon Barclay faced the #5 ranked Eagles of Faith Baptist. The Eagles were coming off a 0-0 double overtime draw from the afternoon before with Manhattan Christian (Manhattan, KS).  Saturday’s game followed a similar pattern for the Eagles. The game was all knotted up 0-0 at the half. Early in the second half, Moore received his second  yellow of the match after a hard tackle and the Bears were forced to play the remainder of the match a man down. Despite the tough circumstances, the Bears still managed to control possession and attacked the goal relentlessly but to no avail as the score remained 0-0 at the end of regulation.  In the first overtime, the Eagles had a golden opportunity to take the lead as they were awarded a surprise penalty kick, but Freshman goalie David Hernandez (Atascadero, CA) was up for the challenge. He made an incredible diving save to keep the Bears alive. Then, in the second overtime the Bears capitalized. Off of an indirect set piece that began just outside of Faith’s box, Lara played a beautiful ball to Cobo, who one-touched it across the front of the goal to the feet of a crashing Assibey, who was able to tap it in for the goal and the victory.

The 1-0 win over Faith moved the #6 ranked Bears to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in MCCC play. Their next match is against MCCC opponent Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO) at 4:00 PM CST Saturday, September 20th.