The time for announcements, hirings and recruitment is over. State Fair Community College men’s soccer returned to the pitch Tuesday after 15 years.
After entering the second half tied at one goal apiece, the Roadrunners lost 3-1 in a scrimmage with William Woods at home in Sedalia, west of the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center at SFCC. Mako Makoanyane scored the lone State Fair goal on a penalty kick about 40 minutes into the scrimmage.
The goal, allowed by an Ian Mayr penalty in the box, tied the match at one. William Woods scored first on a Lendell Louis-Jacques shot in front of the goal in the 11th minute.
While the SFCC Lady Roadrunners take the field for the first time Wednesday, head coach of both programs, Eddie Horn, said it felt nice to get the first match out of the way.
“There were some areas that were a little bit better than I thought we might be,” Horn said. “But there were a lot of areas that we need to improve on … Outside of one player, that was everybody’s first college soccer game.”
William Woods pulled away in the second half through the effort of Rodrigo Alves. He put away a tie-breaking goal past Remington Hayes, and had the last Owls touch before an SFCC own goal. A Nick Holman back-pass averted Hayes in goal.
Sedalia native Reece Gabbert started at goalkeeper for SFCC in the first half.
State Fair suspended the men’s soccer program in 2001 after an administrative investigation revealed suggested player eligibility breaches. Horn said he addressed the 2016 roster about the program’s history.
“When we first got together and set, kind of the the culture, the standard and norms we wanted to have in the program, we did talk about (the suspension),” Horn said. “We talked about how excited people were to see this thing get off the ground again, and how they had an obligation to live up to the standard. Because it was a high standard.”
William Woods head coach Nathan Mason attended and played soccer at SFCC from 1999-2001. He said he was excited for both SFCC and Horn when he heard of the program’s rebirth.
“I know today was good for me, to get back on campus and that kind of thing, personally,” Mason said. “I think there’s soccer in Sedalia. I think there’s a community here that’s supportive. When I was here, I loved it.”
The Lady Runners begin its inaugural season at 2 p.m. Wednesday hosting Kansas City Kansas Community College in a scrimmage.
