On Saturday the Fairmont Firebirds Men's Soccer team hosted Archbishop Moeller High School. The temperature was soaring by kickoff, and the Birds came out of the gates on fire, taking their attack to the visitors from the opening whistle. Fairmont wasted little time nabbing their first goal of the half with only four minutes played. A long throw-in from Luke Davidson found Grey Danner setting up Bien Niyonkuru for his first of two goals on the day. Five minutes later, Moeller had a dangerous freekick on the right side of the penalty area, but the Fairmont wall did its job and blocked the shot. Fairmont continued to control possession and pace of play and the visitors had little response to the Birds’ attack. In the seventeenth minute, in a barage of shots on goal, Torin Brock found Danner free in the box and Danner slipped the ball past the keeper to double the lead. That lead would grow to three in the thirty-first minute following another long throw-in that the visitors failed to clear away, and Nate Bittner finding Mordecai Kesner for his second goal of the season. Fairmont went into halftime with a well-deserved three-goal lead.

Fairmont continued to control the game in the second half and there was little resistance from Moeller.
However, with eighteen minutes left in the match, Fairmont’s Nate Bittner picked up his second yellow
of the game and was sent off for a handball in the penalty area. Gavin Fourman saved the ensuing shot, but the referee determined that Fourman was off his line and allowed a retake, which the striker put into the net. Ten-man Fairmont continued to repel the visitors’ attacks, but Moeller closed the gap to one goal with thirteen minutes to play following a strike from distance. Two minutes later, Fourman
repelled a potential game-tying strike, and Charlie Pochet cleared off the line with seven minutes left in the game. The resilience of the Birds paid off in the seventy-ninth minute when Kesner stripped the ball from a Moeller defender and passed the ball to Bien, who sent a low screamer under the keeper. That combination earned Kesner and Bien dual men-of-the-match honors, and propelled Fairmont to a record of 9-2-1.

Fairmont takes its five-game winning streak to the Wildcats of Springfield High School this Tuesday,
September 30th with JV kickoff at 5:30 and Varsity kickoff at 7:15 p.m. Go Birds!