HOFFMAN ESTATES—The Chicago Soul earned their first shutout in franchise history, defeating the Syracuse Silver Knights 11-0 on Friday night at the Sears Centre Arena. Jeff Richey recorded an impressive 45 saves to carry the squad to victory.

“It was a great game, and definitely special for me,” said Richey. “I felt like I was in the zone. I was in good position the whole time, stood up strong, and didn’t back down to any shots. It felt really good. But you don’t get a shutout in this league without your teammates helping and making defensive plays and blocks. It’s a group effort when you have a shutout in indoor soccer.”

The Soul got things going on a goal by Bato Radoncic in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Eric Lukin followed up with a goal on a pass from Carlos Farias to make it an early 4-0 lead. Both teams remained scoreless in the second quarter as Richey made a flurry of saves to hold off Syracuse scoring.The second half saw more action from the Soul as Matthew Stewart scored the lone goal of the third quarter on a power play advantage to extend the lead to 6-0 heading into the final period of play. Carlos Muñoz made it an 8-point Soul lead at the 10:36 mark in the fourth, and Farias put the game away on a 3-pointer in the final minutes. Richey managed to hold off the Silver Knights, and the Soul picked up the 11-0 victory.

“All credit goes to Jeff [Richey],” said Soul Head Coach Novi Marojevic. “It was an amazing performance. I’ve played in this league for 15 years, and I’ve never seen any goalkeeper play the way he did today. He was simply amazing.”

The Soul resume action at home when they face the Baltimore Blast on January 11 at the Sears Centre Arena. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.