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Faith Christian Eagles Boys Soccer 2011 Season
EAGLE SOCCER EARNS STATE TITLE
Thanks to Adam Finnefrock’s laser from just outside the box that screamed past an outstretched goalie hand inside the near post, the Faith Christian boy soccer team claimed its fourth State 3A State Title in school history, with a 1-0 win over the Classical Academy Titans. This was a classic title match in which both teams relied on smothering defense throughout the contest. After the early goal at the 8-minute mark, Faith’s back line of Matt Shinn, Jason Seeley, John Damm, Jonathan Hampton, and Stephan Knoerr prevented Classical Academy’s potent strikers any room to maneuver. On those rare occasions when the Titans were able to get a quality shot off, Faith Goalie Rod O’Dorsio was up to the task, snatching balls out of the air to preserve the shutout. Eagle hearts stopped briefly early in the second half as the Titans appeared to score on a shot up the middle, however the Classical Academy striker was ruled to be offside and the goal was wiped away. “It was just a team effort from the start, and God really helped us through this one,” said Finnefrock, whose 19th goal of the season earned him MVP honors from the Denver Post. “It was a great strike in the beginning of the game that got us pumped up, and the defense took it from there,” Finnefrock noted. This Faith Christian Championship was the fourth in school history, but the first since 2006. Coach Will Lind said, “This group of guys has been phenomenal all year, and has really peaked throughout the playoffs. Tonight we played with great discipline and intensity.” Congratulations to Coach Lind and the Eagles for a tremendous season, and as always, “Thanks be to God who gives the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Faith vs Holy Family - Nov. 5th
In the 31st minute, sophomore Cameroon Doody took a great pass down the side and dribbled in the corner where he was able to find Cameron McCaslin coming down the middle. McCaslin rifled the shot pass the keeper for a 2-0 lead. Holy Family would get its best chance right before half when their forward got the ball behind the defense, but senior goalkeeper Rod O’Dorisio came out to make an aggressive save preserving the two goal lead and the shutout. In the second half, Faith continued to play with great poise and maturity. In the end, I believe God was honored by their actions. They had to “turn the other check” a couple of times in the game to not get drawn into any bad fouls or respond to calls to which they disagreed. The final goal was scored by Liam Noone on a nice pass from Jonathan Hampton that freed him up the side. Faith soccer is back in the state finals again. They will face The Classical Academy on Tuesday @ 7pm at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Regardless of the outcome, the team has really bonded (and so have the parents) and we give God all the praise. GO Eagles!!!! Faith vs St. Mary's - Nov. 3rd
In the second half, Faith was definitely focusing on keeping their two goal lead, but taking the opportunities when they could to counter-attack. Adam got a turnover in the Faith end and just like in basketball; he started a 3-on-1 fast break. He took it the entire way including a beautiful move at the about the 30 to get past the last defender and fired a hard, low shot that the keeper barely stopped, but couldn’t control. Senior Jonah O’Keefe, who had dropped back a bit to remain onsides, follow-up Adam’s shot and calmly put the ball in the back of the net for Faith’s third goal. St. Mary’s would mount constant pressure the final 20 minutes of the game and did end up scoring one goal, but that would be it and Faith is now heading on to the Semi-Finals. They will face league rivals Holy Family Saturday November 5th @ 5pm at All-City Stadium for the right to play in this year’s state championship game. GO Eagles!!!!! Faith vs Peak to Peak - Oct. 29th
Faith would start slowly and quickly found themselves down by a goal. Peak seemed to be gaining confidence, when they were called for a foul within the box. Senior captain Cameron McCaslin took the penalty shot and hit a low, hard shot that the Peak keeper blocked and the ball rolled out of bounds. As Peak was congratulating their keeper, Faith quickly threw the ball in and Cameron made a great pass to fellow senior caption Adam Finnefrock, who skillfully redirected the ball into the goal and tied the game at one. That series of plays was a game, and possibly season, changing exchange. Faith would control play for the most part from that point onward. They would end the half tied, but the momentum was building in Faith favor. In the second half, Faith continued to put pressure on Peak and finally in the 63rd minute of the game, Adam found the back of the net again on a gorgeous shot from about 25 yards out that went right over the keeper into the far top corner of the net. That goal ended the scoring and propels Faith into the quarterfinals. They will get to play St. Mary’s and try to avenge the loss in last year’s playoffs. Faith vs Hotchkiss - Oct. 27th
Faith started just the way they wanted. They scored early and controlled the play with nice crisp passes. Senior Jonah O’’Keefe would start and finish the scoring include one on a nice pass from junior Liam Noone. Liam would add a goal of his own on an assist from senior captain Cameron McCaslin. And the defense, led by senior keeper Rod O’Dorisio, senior John Damm, sophomore Matt Shinn, and sophomore Jason Seeley completed another shutout victory. Overall, it was a good start as Coach Lind was able to rest some players that were still recovering from injuries and was able to get everybody on the team some playoff minutes which will help in the future. Faith will be hosting Peak-to-Peak in the next round of the playoffs on Saturday. Great job team. Faith vs Kent Denver - Oct. 6th
Faith vs Colorado Academy - Oct. 4th
Faith vs Arvada - Sept. 30th
As they met for halftime, the coaching staff let the team know that they were definitely not playing their best and had better step it up in the second half. The team responded well and exploded for 9 more goals in the second half. In the end, the team would have its first hat trick of the season (Doody - 3 goals, 1 assist), both senior captains would have multiple goal nights (Adam Finnefrock - 2 goals, 2 assists; Cameron McCaslin - 2 goals, 1 assist), and two others would have multiple points (junior Liam Noone – 3 assists; junior Jonathan Hampton – 1 goal, 1 assist). The remaining goals were scored by senior Jonah O’Keefe and sophomore Stefan Knoerr. Faith has a big week ahead as they have three league games next week, starting with traveling to Colorado Academy on 10/4 @ 4pm. Faith vs Holy Family - Sept. 27th
Faith’s offense was starting to create some chances as its defense worked to shut down Holy Family. In the 23rd minute, junior forward Liam Noone tried to chip the keeper from about 12 yards out, but his shot hit the post. Faith would have a couple more decent opportunities in the half, but nothing found the back of the net. The half would end scoreless, but Faith was definitely gaining momentum. The Eagles came out flying in the second half and started to get better scoring chances. The Holy Family keeper made strong saves on senior captain Adam Finnefrock’s shot in the 44th minute and senior midfielder Jonah O’Keefe’s shot in the 50th minute. Faith was finally able to find the back of the net when Adam sent a wonderful through ball to Liam who took it the last 30 yards and beat the keeper to the far side to put Faith up 1-0. On the ensuing restart, Holy Family got off a solid shot, but Rod was there to preserve Faith’s lead. Less than 4 minutes later, sophomore defenseman Stefan Knoerr took a free kick from about midfield. Adam was able to get his head on it and redirect it away from the keeper and into the net to put Faith up by two goals. They would need this goal as in the 61stminute, Faith was called for a handball in the box and Holy Family was awarded a Penalty Kick, with which they scored their only goal of the match. Faith responded well to this misfortune and junior Carlos Kim finished the scoring on a skillful shot just under the crossbar on a great pass from Liam in the 65th minute. Faith clamped down the rest of the match to safeguard their 4th straight win. Their next game is back at Carr St. on Friday for a non-league match against Arvada.
Faith vs Manual - Sept. 21st
Faith vs Alexander Dawson - Sept. 15th
 On a wet and overcast day, the Faith Christian Eagles would be looking for a total team effort as their senior captain Cameron McCaslin was on the sidelines with an injury. In the end, they would get this effort as five different players scored goals, eleven different players had at least one shot on goal, and the defense would only allow two shots on goal. Coach Lind was able to get everybody that was suited up significant minutes throughout contest.Fellow senior captain Adam Finnefrock started the scoring in the 4th minute on a beautiful shot from about 25 yards out that sailed over the keeper’s head into the far top corner of the net. Just 9 minutes later, sophomore Jason Seeley sent a great ball to junior Carlos Kim for the 2nd goal and Jason’s second assist of the match. At the 24th minute, junior Josh Aschfort was on the receiving end of a gorgeous pass from Adam and Faith had their 3rd goal of the game. Just over a minute later, Faith benefited from an own-goal when a Mustang player tried to clear the ball after several Faith shots. The final goal of the half was produced by some beautiful play between junior Liam Noone and sophomore Matt Shinn. They passed back and forth up the field until Matt finished the play with a skillful shot in the 33rd minute of play. Liam finished the scoring with a PK in the 52nd minute after he was tripped in the box by a defender. Senior keeper Rod O’Dorisio stopped both shots he saw for his second consecutive shutout and the team was able to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season. That is a good sign as they host Manual on Wednesday (Sept. 21st @ 6pm) for their first league match. Go Eagles!!!
Faith vs Lakewood - Sept. 13th
Faith vs Standley Lake - Sept. 9th
Despite spending a majority of the last 15 minutes in front of the Gator's goal, Faith just couldn’t put one in the net. Seeley took a shot with less than 2 minutes remaining, but it went high. The game ended with much disappointment, as it was the first loss of the season. Hopefully, the bitter taste of defeat will spur the team on in future games. Faith vs Ralston Valley - Sept. 7th
In the 24th minute of play, Faith was awarded a free kick. It was kicked a little too far and the goalie punched it out. Faith was able to recover the ball in the midfield and quickly brought the ball back up the left side into the RV third. After receiving a pass, Junior Liam Noone brought the ball down the side to about the six and fired a hard shot toward net. The ball was redirected to a waiting Cameron McCaslin who calmly put the ball in the back of the net to give Faith the lead at the 25th minute. Each team had a couple of corners during the final 15 minutes of the half. Rod made a couple of nice saves including one in the final minute and Cameron had a header go just wide. The half ended with Faith leading 1-0. RV came out strong in the second half, but Faith weathered the initial storm and created some good scoring chances themselves. The game settled down with each team continuing to create some opportunities. RV was able to even the score in the 28th minute when they sent a cross from the left side to a waiting player just inside the 18. Rod tried to make a diving stab at the ball, but it fell just past his reach and the RV player was able to redirect it into the open goal to tie the score. Faith had another chance to take the lead in the 32nd minute, but senior Adam Finnefrock’s cross was intercepted by the RV goalie. The game advanced to overtime. Faith was able to generate the only real scoring opportunity as Cameron’s header off a pass from Adam went just wide in the 2nd overtime. The game ended with a tied score of 1 to 1. The Faith young men played well again and look forward to improving upon their record as they travel to the NAAC to battle Stanley Lake on Friday night. Faith vs Pomona - Sept. 1st
A special thank you to Mark Noone for taking all of the pictures of the boys soccer team
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The Eagles found themselves back at All-City Stadium for a semi-final match for the second year in a round. This time the match would be against their league rival Holy Family and they were looking for a different outcome than last year. The team appeared to be very focused even in warm-ups and was able to transfer that intensity to the game. From the opening kick-off, they seemed to control the play; specifically from the midfield, led by their senior co-captains Cameron McCaslin and Adam Finnefrock. They were not able to generate much in the way of shots during the first twenty minutes, but they were slowly gaining momentum. Defensively, the Eagles players John Damm, Jason Seeley, Matt Shinn and Stefan Knoerr were frustrating any offensive attempts from Holy Family. Then in the 21st minute, Adam took the ball away about midfield and started weaving his way through the defense and finally broke free about the 18 and fired a beautiful shot just inside the far post to give Faith an early lead. It proved to be the game winner, but both Faith’s offense and defense were not done yet. 
The Faith Christian Eagles traveled down to Colorado Springs to face the Pirates from St. Mary’s with a trip to the semi-finals on the line. It would be a rematch of last year’s semi-final game where Faith lost to the eventual State Champs. The game started slowly for both teams as there was a lot of possession in the middle but not many shots on goal. Each team would get several corner kicks in the first 20 minutes of play, but nothing that would amount to a good shot either way. On Faith’s four corner kick, the St. Mary’s goalie made the save, but landed awkwardly and ended up leaving the game for a bit to get his knee wrapped. Faith took advantage of the situation to get their first goal. Senior captain Adam Finnefrock carried the ball in the right corner and was able to get a beautiful pass off to junior Josh Aschfort who as trailing down the middle. Josh’s goal put the Eagles on the board and they never looked back. Shortly after that junior Jonathan Hampton raced past the defense down the left side and crossed it back into the middle to senior captain Cameron McCaslin who drilled it past the keeper for the second goal of the half and what would turn out to be the game winner. Faith’s defense continued to keep the Pirates off balance and the half ended with a two goal lead for Faith. 
On a cool Saturday afternoon, Faith welcomed their league rival Peak-to-Peak for a round of 16 match-up. Faith was looking to improve upon their 2-2 tie against Peak from less than two weeks ago that cost them a chance at winning the Region 6 conference title. As Coach Lind stated after that game, he would rather win a State Championship than a League Championship. 
Faith would start the playoff’s at home this year a day later than originally scheduled due to a typical Colorado fall snow storm that left plenty of snow for sledding, but makes playing soccer difficult. After Coach Lind cleared the field on Wednesday and having a sunny day Thursday, the field was in great condition as Faith welcomed Hotchkiss on a Thursday afternoon to kick-off what is hopefully a deep playoff run. 
On another warm, summer-like evening, the Eagles hosted Arvada looking to extend their winning ways. The team controlled play throughout, but did not have their ‘A’ game in the first half. Their passes were not crisp and their shots were just a little off. They did take a 2-0 halftime lead off goals by junior Carlos Kim and sophomore Cameron Doody, but it was evident that they could have done more.
On a warm, sunny evening, Faith welcomed their league rival and unbeaten Holy Family to town. It was a match-up of Faith’s stingy defense against Holy Family’s prolific offense. The game was a hard fought battle throughout. The first half provided for some great play on both sides. Senior keeper Rod O’Dorisio made a couple of nice saves in the first 10 minutes off free kicks. In the 20th minute, sophomore Matt Shinn was able to keep a Holy Family forward, who had broken through at about the 30, outside and Rod made another save to keep the teams even.
Despite the beautiful weather Friday at the NAAC, the Faith Christian men's soccer team started out slow. With only 16:37 minutes of possession in the first half, they were just not playing their best. Rod O'Dorisio had some great saves, but 3 minutes into the second half, Standley Lake put one past him. Down by a goal, the Eagles seemed to start waking up. After an early chance by Cameron McCaslin, Jonah O’Keefe had a couple shots, and Stefan Knoerr sent one just wide. The Eagles were able to keep 55% of the possession in the second half. Even when they didn't have the ball, they were often able to keep it in our offensive half. Adam Finnefrock had a couple great opportunities in the 59th and 60th minutes, one just wide, and the other just high. In the 65th minute, Finnefrock drew a penalty kick. McCaslin took the shot sending it to the right corner on the ground. Unfortunately, the keeper guessed correctly and came away with the save. 
God provided a cloudy, but dry fall-like evening for the Eagles as they hosted Ralston Valley (#8 in 5A) and looked to improve upon their encouraging win over Pomona. The game had a good pace from the start, although neither team was able to generate much in the way of scoring opportunities early. RV appeared to take the lead midway through the first half off the redirection of a free kick, but the play was ruled off-sides. That seemed to open up the game a bit more as RV had a couple of additional shots in the next few minutes, but senior goalkeeper Rod O’Dorisio was equal to the task and the game remained scoreless.
On Thursday evening September 1st at 6:00 the 3A Faith Christian Eagles played their season opener against the 5A Pomona Panthers at Faith. In the first half, second year junior exchange student Carlos Kim took advantage of a hard- hit shot that went through the Pomona keepers’ hands to score Faith’s first goal of the season. 
