Bridgewater, Va. –  On Monday, March 29, the men’s soccer team played their rescheduled match against the Quakers. 

“Going into Guilford, our main focuses were to play with high energy and to stay organized defensively,” said junior midfielder, Luke Stubbs.

The Eagles took an early lead two minutes into the first half, when junior midfielder Sam Franklin sent an early cross into the box after beating the Quaker’s left defender — which led to sophomore forward Alex Martinez settling the cross and scoring with no pressure and an open shot. 

After Martinez’s goal, both teams increased their physicality and played more directly to boost each side’s competitive spirits.  

The first half remained 1-0 in the Eagles favor. The Eagles took seven shots, while the Quakers only had four. The Quakers had five corner kicks to Bridgewater’s two. Both teams were afflicted with two fouls each in the first half. 

Two minutes into the second half, Guilford responded quickly with a goal to start the half. 

Guilford sophomore forward Kennedy Nzekwe redirected a cross with his head from inside the box, which was initially blocked by sophomore defender James Yeboah, but Nzekwe cleaned up his own rebound to tie the score. 

Within 12 minutes of the second half, Martinez received the first and only yellow card for the Eagles.

With 32 minutes remaining in the second half, Guilford first-year midfielder Sebastian Salas sent a cross into the box and Nzekwe found the back of the net for his second goal — giving the Quakers a 2-1 lead over the Eagles. 

With 30 minutes left on the clock, sophomore midfielder Simon Brun took a shot on goal as a chance to tie the game, but missed. 

Five minutes later, junior midfielder Luke Stubbs took a shot on goal, but the Quaker’s senior goalie Zach Van Kampen stopped the Eagles from getting on the board. The save by Van Kampen caused an injury timeout for the Quakers, resulting in junior goalie Fisher Athey substituting in for Guilford’s Van Kampen.

Two minutes after the goalie substitution, with 22 minutes remaining in the second half, tensions rose and Guilford received their first yellow card of the night — which was awarded to junior midfielder Rodrigo Gudino. 

With 9:37 remaining on the clock, Guilford’s sophomore forward Sam Coughlin received the third yellow card of the night, second for Guilford. 

As 4:06 remained in the second half, Guilford’s sophomore midfielder Jasper Ardinger received the final yellow card of the night. 

The Quakers took five shots in the second half, compared to two from the Eagles. The Quakers committed four fouls, which resulted in three yellow cards — while the Eagles committed five fouls. 

The Eagles did not have the opportunity for any corner kicks during the second half, although they gave up four corners for the Quakers. Eagle’s sophomore goalie Tyler Deutsch had one save of the night. 

The Eagles, now 1-5-2 overall and 0-5-2 in the conference, will travel to Buena Vista, Va., to play Southern Virginia on April 1 in a non-conference contest. 

“The result of the game was frustrating, but there are some positives that can help us continue to build our team and culture for our fall season,” said Stubbs.

The Eagles are currently tenth in the conference and have yet to clinch a spot