The contest between the boys’ soccer teams of host Summit Christian Academy and visiting Suffolk Christian Academy on Tuesday served as a vivid illustration of one of the challenges the Knights face this season.

The Eagles routed an undermanned Suffolk Christian team, which managed to score one goal, but the Knights’ new coach, Ryan Heard, was proud of his team’s effort in the face of a daunting challenge.

“We only had 11 players, so we did really good,” he said. “They had 22.”

The Knights were down to 11 because of injuries, but their full roster when everyone is healthy still includes only 13 players.

Among those 13, there are three seniors, two juniors, three sophomores, two freshmen, two eighth-graders and one sixth-grader.

Suffolk Christian finished last season with a 4-9 overall record, losing narrowly in the first round of the Hampton Roads Athletic Conference tournament.

A key star on that Knights team, Steven Effler, has transferred to the BEACH Breakers for his senior year and will be missed.

But Suffolk Christian has several returners, including its trio of senior players that Heard is counting on.

“I expect them to lead and set the example for the underclassmen,” he said.

The trio is comprised of Michael Cornette, who scored the Knights’ lone goal on Tuesday, Kenneth Barrick and Zachary Legg.

To prepare his small group of players for this season, Heard has been putting them through a lot of conditioning.

“The motto is, ‘We have 13 players for 80 minutes,’” he said. “That’s how we train.”

Heard is a former player himself and has been developing his coaching skills for the past two years as Suffolk Christian’s junior varsity girls’ soccer head coach and varsity girls’ soccer assistant coach.

He said he expects big things out of the varsity boys’ team this year, and he expects them to play with a Christian heart.

The Knights (0-3) should have 12 players healthy for Thursday’s home game against Gateway Christian Academy.