After Oklahoma Christian University men’s soccer team dropped the season-opener last week, the Eagle’s victory against Harding University on Saturday was more than just the first win of the season.
The 4-1 stumping of the Bison marked the first NCAA Division II win by an Oklahoma Christian athletic team.
According to junior Taylor Vanderford, the Eagles had to earn the win while the Bison attacked aggressively throughout the match.
“[Saturday’s] game was a hard fought match,” Vanderford said. “Harding started to create chances in the last 15 minutes but we held our ground with our center back playing strong.”
Vanderford recorded two consecutive goals of Oklahoma Christian’s four, the first at 1:12 off a corner kick and the second from an assist by Troy Tippeconnic to Vanderford in the 16th minute.
Harding answered back in the 42nd minute with a header off a free kick, but this would remain their only goal of the game.
The Eagles scored twice more in the second half of the game, with a one-player advantage after Harding’s Phillip White was ejected following his second yellow card. Anthony Buchanan connected with Tippeconnic in the 87th minute, and scored a goal of his own, unassisted, less than a minute later.
The keys to success are maintaining a healthy team for the entire season and keeping the effort up in training, Vanderford said.
“The big goal for us is to keep everyone healthy and practice hard and do the things right that need to be done,” Vanderford said. “We’ve just got to take it one game at a time and focus on that.”
The Eagles host Central Christian University on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
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