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The men's soccer team continued their strong play on the season Saturday night in their 2009 home opener. Facing the #12 ranked team in the country in the Bellevue Bruins, Graceland was tested against their first tough NAIA team on the young campaign. The Jackets cruised to an easy 3-0 win over the Bruins.

Graceland got the scoring kicked off midway through the 1st half as senior Stefan Delas (Vistabella, Trinidad & Tobago) scored on a great pass from Andre Sharpe (Kingston, Jamaica). The Jackets tacked on a second goal only three minutes later in the 26th minute as freshman Roger Thompson (Toronto, Ontario) added a goal on a nice breakaway. Graceland would add one more goal in the 67th minute as sophomore Aaron Cairns (Glasgow, Scotland) scored on a penalty kick giving Graceland a 3-0 lead. Led by senior Eddie Edward (Ottawa, Ontario) the defense played strong all night shutting out their second consecutive opponent. Besides his goal, Cairns had an excellent night controlling the middle of the field for the Jacket offensive attack as well.

"This was a good win for us but we still have quite a ways to go to get to where we would like to be by seasons end," stated Coach Monroy following the victory. "Defensively this team really plays well together and our two shutouts show it. I'm excited about the possibilities for us this season but we've just got to play it one game at a time right now and not get ahead of ourselves. Bellevue was just one of many extremely good teams we face this year," finished Monroy.

Graceland now stands at 2-0 on this young season. The Jackets will next play Wednesday night in Des Moines against Grand View University at 7pm. Stay tuned to the Jacket athletics website for continuing coverage of the men's soccer team and all of Jacket athletics.
Stefan De Las