LOUISVILLE - The Spalding University men's soccer team defeated Fontbonne 2-0 on Senior Day. Fontbonne entered the match undefeated against SLIAC competition but ran into an all around dominant performance from the Golden Eagles. Spalding's possession based attack created numerous chances throughout the game and produced goals from Aden Abdirahman and Abdullahi Abdullahi.
 
Abdirahman nearly opened up the scoring in the 13^th minute but was denied by the crossbar. He was able to get off the shot after receiving a square ball from Colin Peters, who was able to cut inside past two defenders prior to delivering the pass.
 
In the 23^rd minute, the Golden Eagles were able to take a 1-0 lead after Abdirahman's next attempt on goal found the side netting of the far post. Jacob McMurry received the ball on an overlap run on the left side of the field. McMurry delivered the ball to Abdirahman who was waiting near the left elbow of the 18-yard box. Abdirahman turned, avoided a defender and fired the net seeking shot.
 
Abdullahi increased the lead to 2-0 in the 26^th minute after he cleaned up a segment of shots from the Golden Eagles. Joey Lesher gave the crossbar its second smack of the game from 25 yards out. The ensuing rebound was almost slotted home by McMurry, but a touch from the Fontbonne goalkeeper denied the attempt. As a result, the ball fell to feet of Abdullahi for an easy finish and a 2-0 lead.
 
The Golden Eagles put on a dominant display of offense in the first half, outshooting Fontbonne 13-3 as well as holding a 3-0 advantage on corner kicks.
 
Spalding was able to play comfortably in the second half with a large part due to Brent Hannah's heroics in the 65^th minute. The Fontbonne attack was able to get a dribbling shot past a charging Logan Spencer. Hannah was able to recover in time to clear the goal-bound ball off the line and out for a corner kick. The game would finish with the score of 2-0.
 
The Golden Eagles were able to close out the remaining minutes of the game with all six seniors on the field. For the game, Spalding held a 17-8 advantage in shots and each side ended the game even in corner kicks with three. It was the eighth shutout of the season for the Golden Eagles with Spencer and Mike Salamon combining to earn the clean sheet in goal.
 
It was a special final home game for the seniors as they saw their win total on the year improve to ten, a large growth from their freshman year when they only recorded one win. Spalding's record now sits at 10-5-1, 4-2-1 with two games remaining in the regular season. The Golden Eagles will be on the road for their final two games of the year beginning with a matchup at Principia on Thursday, October 30^th.