ATCHISON, Kan. – Despite a solid second half effort with good performances from both ends of the field, three goals in the first half hour of action were more than enough to power Benedictine (3-0-1) to a 3-1 home victory over Avila (1-4-0) on a late night Labor Day matchup in Atchison.

The Eagles dodged a bullet in the very first minute when Kody Argaez hit both the crossbar and the post and came up empty, but it didn't take the Ravens long to make good on their chances. Adem Aroua scored in the seventh minute and Eliah Froeyland scored in the 15^th, both on slick crosses from the left wing from Rian Bautista, and the Ravens had an early 2-0 lead.

Not long later, Pablo Gamboa played in Aroua in the box around a couple of Eagles for an easy finish to make it 3-0. Avila got its first great scoring chance of the night in the first couple of minutes of the second half when Thomas Mikkelson's free kick from midfield fell to the waiting feet of Johnathan Young, but Carlos Flores was there to make the stop.

Despite trailing for the entire game, the Eagles never gave up on the game, and, after a quiet first half, generated chances consistently in the second half. Those chances finally came to a peak just south of 70 minutes in: shortly after Damon Young and the Avila defense blocked a couple of shots on their end, the Ravens failed to clear the ball in their end and senior midfielder Thomas Mikkelson jumped all over the botched clear, blasting an unguarded shot past Flores and into the net for his first goal of the season.

Just minutes later, more good defense led to more good offense. After Johnathan Fager made a pair of saves for the Eagles he had come off his line, leaving an open net for Pablo Gamboa – but Ko 'Oo hustled back and denied the shot literally on the goal line to give the Eagles a chance. And moments after that, it was 'Oo who streaked down the left sideline and into the box for a scoring chance, but his high shot glanced off the crossbar and just stayed out. Fager finished with seven saves for the Eagles, giving him a season total of 25 in five matches.

That was the final quality chance the Eagles had. Avila kept Benedictine off the board completely in the second half and battled back after it looked like the Ravens might be able to coast, but Benedictine still handily won its third straight game this season with a 3-1 home victory.

Up next, Avila has a little bit of time off before the most important part of the season begins: the Eagles will begin KCAC competition starting next week when conference newcomers Evangel come to town to take on Avila at The Z next Wednesday, September 13. The women kick off the doubleheader at 2 PM CT with the men to follow at 4:30; as always, admission to games at The Z is free, and you can watch all the action wherever you are on the Avila Sports Network.