Fahey Hat Trick Hero in NAIA Tourney Win

Box Score 

(11/16/07 - Men's Soccer) OLATHE, Kan. - Sophomore MF Jon Fahey picked an opportune time to record his first collegiate hat trick, leading #6-seeded Concordia to a 4-2 win over 11th-seeded Graceland (Iowa), Friday afternoon at the 49th Annual NAIA Men's Soccer National Championships.

"This is the first time that I've felt really healthy in a long time, so I felt like I had a good chance of scoring today," said Fahey, who also netted the first hat trick in NAIA tournament play since Joonas Siikala of Northwood (Fla.) did so in a 3-2 win over Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) in the second round last season. "Everytime we score first, we feel good that we're going to win."

The Eagles improved their record to perfect 16-0 when registering the opening goal of the game, failing only to score first in their season-opening win at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Eagles also tallied at least four times in a contest for the fith occasion this season.

A strong wind with gusts up over 30 miles per hour made the entire game difficult for both teams, but the opening half had the wind in the face of the Eagles. Unlike the teams earlier in the day, however, the Eagles handled the wind well and controlled the action for large portions of the first half.

Fahey got the Eagles on the board in the 39th minute after some smart build-up play put the Eagles in a position to swing the ball into the box. Jeff Clark got to the ball first and nodded it toward the left post. With goalkeeper Carlos Ortiz beat, Fahey won a footrace to the loose ball and tapped in his 7th goal of the season.

The Concordia lead lasted just five minutes as the Yellowjackets grabbed an equalizer with less than 90 seconds left before the break. Matt Klaus picked up a loose ball on the left wing and pressed toward the Concordia goal. He dribbled through three defenders, then was brought down in the area, setting up Kevin Souter for a penalty kick to level the teams with 1:22 remaining.

"I've been telling the guys the last two weeks that they just need to come out here and play soccer," said head coach Don Ebert, who guided the Eagles to their first-ever NAIA Tournament win in their third opportunity. "I was just hoping to come out of the first half even and felt pretty good that we'd be able to get at least one goal with the wind in the second half."

The Eagles would give their leader three after the intermission, the first coming just 2:46 into the second stanza. Senior D Mike Mirzadeh picked up a loose ball just to the left of the center circle on the Graceland side of the field. He took two touches forward and unleashed a 35-yard blast that sailed with the wind and over the fingertips of Ortiz for one of the most remarkable goals in team history.

The next 33 minutes saw both teams take hold of the ball and create chances, but neither was able to break through with the fourth goal of the game up through the 80th minute. The final 8:24, however, brought a much different tale.

Fahey added his second thanks to a second assist by Clark. As the Eagles countered a Graceland attacking play, Clark dribbled to the right corner of the box and slotted the ball across the area. Adrian Martinez wisely let the ball run for Fahey to tuck into the lower right corner.

"(Clark) just opens up the game so much for the rest of us," said Fahey of his teammate whose equal number of goals and assists at 13 leads the club. He gets guys to go with him and makes it a lot easier for us to score."

The final blow to the defending NAIA champions came at 86:27 on another counterattack. This time, Eric Mendoza worked a clinical give-and-go with Fahey, who once again beat Ortiz low to the right side for his 9th of the season.

Souter knocked in a consolation tally for the Yellowjackets with a tick under two minutes to go as he curled a free kick over the wall from just outside the area and into the left corner.

The Eagles led the way in shots with a 16-12 advantage and managed to clear the lines on all eight corner kicks taken by Graceland. Senior GK Mike Borst made four saves in nets for the Eagles while Ortiz had three stops for Graceland (17-2-2).

Concordia (17-3-0) plays its quarterfinal match on Saturday, November 17 against Embry-Riddle (Fla.), the lowest remaining seed in the tournament at #18 after upsetting third-seeded Mobile (Ala.), 2-0. Kickoff is set for 2:15 p.m.