MSUB Men's Soccer Recap 9/13/15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Sunday, September 13, 2015 Palomino, Toenges lead MSUB to 5-1 win over South Dakota Mines

Ricardo Palomino scores four goals, and is assisted three times by Julian Toenges, to lead the MSUB men’s soccer team to a big 5-1 victory over visiting South Dakota Mines on Sunday in the Rimrock Classic finale.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Ricardo Palomino was assisted by Julian Toenges on three of the four goals he scored, as the Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team cruised to a 5-1 victory over visiting South Dakota School of Mines on Sunday afternoon at Yellowjacket Field in the final game of the 2015 MSUB Rimrock Classic sponsored by TNT Autotmotive & Marine.

The Yellowjackets (2-1-1) scored five times for the second game in a row, as Palomino found the net off of balls played

by Toenges twice in the opening 10 minutes of the match. The sophomore completed his hat trick in the 29th minute on an assist from Jorge Paez, and sealed the win for MSUB in the second half with an outstanding finish into the side netting in the 51st minute.

In addition to his three assists, Toenges also scored for MSUB, as he wound up on the end of a long ball played by Yellowjacket keeper Tom Lohmann and made the score 4-1 in the 48th minute.

MSUB out-shot SDSMT 23-5 in the match, and placed 10 of its shots on frame compared with two by the Hardrockers. Jack Seifert had four saves for SDSMT, which fell to 0-3-1 with the loss. The Yellowjackets held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.

“Overall this was a very good performance from our entire team,” commented MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “We had a great performance individually by Ricardo who scored four goals, and defensively as well except for that one lax moment we had a fantastic performance.”

The Hardrockers started the game with a statement, as Lars Skau scored his first goal of the season directly off of a corner kick by David Pineda three minutes into the match.

Junior Julian Toenges.

“We were not happy with the goal we conceded, but how we bounced back right afterwards was impressive,” Lohmann commented on the ‘Jackets scoring just two minutes after giving up a goal.

“We kept playing our game, didn’t get nervous, and that was the key for our win today.”

The Yellowjackets responded immediately however, as Toenges found Palomino with a through ball into the box. The sophomore got past a defender and beat the Hardrocker keeper with a shot into the far side of the net, as his third goal of the season evened the score at 1-1.

SDSMT produced a pair of opportunities on back-to-back corners, the second of which came after a point-blank shot by Michael McGraw was blocked out of bounds by MSUB’s back line. Lohmann reached up and punched away the second cross, and the ‘Jackets avoided danger 10 minutes into the game.

Palomino nearly completed a hat trick 20 minutes into the game, but his strong shot from 10 yards out was denied by Seifert and the score remained 2-1.

When Paez beat a pair of defenders into the box on the left side of the field, he found Palomino wide open in front of the net as the ‘Jackets distanced themselves at 3-1 in the 29th minute.

Starting the second half strong, Lohmann drilled the ball 70 yards downfield and over the head of the Hardrockers’ back line. Toenges sprinted onto the ball in the box, and beat the keeper with a shot to make the score 4-1.

Palomino added his fourth goal four minutes later, with his finest finish of the game. On another distribution from Toenges, Palomino fired a hard, sinking shot across the goal mouth from the right side that tucked just inside the far post and into the side netting.

“It is nice having him up there,” David Loeung commented regarding Palomino. “So far I have clicked with him and we are always on the same page. I work for him, he works for me, and we are getting goals and assists so I am happy.”

The Hardrockers did not threaten the rest of the way, as the ‘Jackets kept the pressure on and closed out their second straight victory.

THE BUZZ: Palomino now has six goals on the season, after scoring twice in MSUB’s 5-0 win over Carroll on Friday…Tom Saltwell added 80 more quality minutes on MSUB’s back line, playing a crucial role in the defensive unit that allowed just

12 total shots in its two games this weekend…Palomino was named St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…the University of Mary, MSUB’s next opponent, defeated Carroll College 3-2 in the first match of the day.

“We saw Mary play twice, and they saw us play twice so I don’t think there are going to be a lot of secrets for either team going into Saturday,” Balog said. “We will go into that game with a lot of confidence, but we have to go into it fighting like we always try to do.”

NEXT UP: In a light week, MSUB begins Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a single road game at the University of Mary on Saturday in Bismarck, N.D. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Mountain time, with live video and statistics available.

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