The Aurora University Spartans defeated the Griffins of Fontbonne University 2-0 on Friday afternoon at Vago Field.
The scoring started early for the Spartans as junior midfielder Mike Emma scored in the third minute of action on a header off the foot of sophomore midfielder Sean McGinnis’ corner kick.
The Spartans were not done as senior midfielder Justin Pederson scored a 40 yard free kick in the seventh minute of play, quickly giving the Spartan defense a 2-0 lead. It was Pederson’s third goal of the season.
Tensions ran high the remaining 83 minutes but there would be no scoring the rest of the game. AU finished the contest with four yellow cards and Fontbonne had one yellow with a pair of red cards coming from the Griffins head coach and his assistant coach, both resulted in game misconducts.
Following the shutout today, the Spartan defense has still not given up a goal in the first four games, spanning 360 minutes of play. Freshman goalkeeper Ethan Cashen played the first half with two saves to earn the victory and junior goalkeeper Kevin Soderstrom played the second half, stopping three shots.
The Spartan victory brings them to 4-0 on the season and AU opens the 2009 Northern Athletics Conference schedule against Edgewood College at noon on Sunday, September 13 at Vago Field.