BILLINGS, Mont. – There was no shortage of offense today for the (RV) Corban University Men's Soccer team (13-1-0, 8-1-0), as the Warriors scored five of the seven total goals this afternoon against the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears (6-5-1, 4-4-0) to take home their first road trip victory 5-2.
"This might be the toughest road trip in the country. After 16 hours of driving, then being asked to play such a strong side is no easy task," Corban Head Coach Tim Kagey shared in regards to the difficulties his team has faced over the past two days.
"I am very proud of the way we responded to adversity today. We will now hit the road for four more hours of driving before tomorrow's match," Kagey went on to say.
The scoring opened just eight minutes into the contest, as senior defender Robin Terry launched a free kick just a couple of feet outside the Battlin' Bears' penalty box into the upper left-hand corner of the net, curving up and around the Rocky Mountain defenders to score his third goal of the season.
For the first time this season, an opponent scored in the open field against Warriors' graduate student goalkeeper Quinn McCallion, as a deflected shot off the foot of Bears' midfielder Niklas Kneller waned just far enough away from McCallion for Rocky Mountain to knot this contest at 1-1 in the 33rd minute.
The Warriors did not take to kindly to allowing their first goal in the open field this season, as Corban would quickly counter just 20 seconds later with a breakaway goal from freshman forward Jaden Dubon, his seventh of the season to tie sophomore midfielder Alexis Luna for the team lead.
Luna responded just over a minute later with a goal of his own, as his initial shot was batted down by a Battlin' Bears defender, only to be rocketed back once again to easily net his eight goal of the year, making this contest a 3-1 score with over 55 minutes of regulation time still to be played.
The Bears intensity on the offensive side of the ball allowed them to score again in the second half, as a corner kick from midfielder Angel Mange sailed wide, which allowed midfielder Lorenzo Klamler to send another opportunity into the box, where a header from defender Ethan Maguire hit the bottom left post and slid into the net to pull Rocky Mountain to within a goal, 2-3.
Allowing another goal once again did not sit right with Corban, as they immediately connected on their fourth goal of the contest in the 62nd minute via freshman defender Joao Gomes' first career goal. Following a Battlin' Bears foul roughly 10 yards outside the penalty box, sophomore midfielder/defender Andres Labate sent the free kick within five yards of the goal, where Gomes sent a header to the right side of the goal for the score and put the Warriors back up by a pair.
The Corban offense wasn't quite done yet, as the Warriors added another goal in the 67th minute from sophomore defender Edson Jimenez. With junior midfielder Gian Gargurevich pushing the ball up the left side of the field, Jimenez rushed the penalty box from the right, and pushed Gargurevich's pass through the legs of Bears' goalkeeper Stefan Schenk for the team's fifth score of the day.
The Warriors were able to keep Rocky off the board for the rest of the match, escaping Billings with the 5-2 win. McCallion (13-1-0), despite allowing his first goal in the open field this season, picked up his 13th win of the year with four saves. Jimenez provided three shots and two shots on goal, both team-highs for the day.
Schenk (5-4-1) nabbed three saves against the steady Warriors offense but allowed five goals to take the loss this afternoon. Kneller and Mange each had three shots to lead the team, with all three of Kneller's shots going in the direction of McCallion.
The Warriors will return to the field tomorrow, as they travel to Great Falls, Montana to play the University of Providence Argos at 1pm MT in a Saturday afternoon conference battle.
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