MSUB Men's Soccer Recap 10/1/15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, October 1, 2015 Yellowjackets, Cavs battle to 3-3 OT stalemate in Portland

MSUB takes a 3-2 lead in the second half but Concordia equalizes with a penalty kick as the Yellowjackets play to a draw in their second straight match.

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Yellowjackets found the net three times on Thursday evening at Tuominen Yard but host Concordia University (Ore.) had an answer each time as the Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team earned a double-overtime draw for the second straight match, 3-3 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest.

GNAC scoring leader Ricardo Palomino blasted home his 10th and 11th goals of the season, while sophomore Niklas Schregel added his second of the season.

“I am very proud of the guys, as we kept fighting the whole game,” said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “Ricardo had two more goals, and he was very good today. Overall this was a fantastic team performance, and we are still unbeaten in the GNAC.” The Cavs took a 2-1 lead less than five minutes after the halftime break, but MSUB scored the next two goals to set itself up for a shot at the win.

A foul inside the goal box set up a penalty kick for CU with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation however, and the Cavaliers scored the final goal of the match in the ultimate draw.

CU held a narrow 15-14 edge in shots on the match, as the Cavs put seven of their attempts on target compared with MSUB’s four. Tom Lohmann had four saves in the net for the Yellowjackets, while CU’s Mitch McCaw had one.

Palomino led all players in the match with four shots, while Thiago Novis had three of his own. Matt Paine had five shots off the bench for the Cavaliers, and Zak Naylor and Tyler Hoiem each contributed three.

MSUB won a corner kick early on, and created its first chance of the match. After CU’s back line knocked away a shot attempt, Novis whipped a cross back into the box and watched as Palomino blasted his conference-leading 10th goal of the season into the back of the net in the fifth minute.

Lohmann came off of his line and slid to knock away a shot less than two minutes later, shutting down a dangerous opportunity on the offensive end by the Cavaliers.

MSUB’s defense did well to clear a free kick chance from 25 yards out, and on the ensuing counter attack the Yellowjackets nearly scored again. Julian Toenges streaked onto a long through ball past CU’s back line, but his shot towards goal missed the target high.

The Cavaliers equalized 17 minutes into the match, as Hoiem sneaked behind MSUB’s back line and tucked away his second goal of the season with a low shot inside the far post from the left side of the box.

Opening the second half with a goal in the first five minutes, the Cavaliers grabbed the lead as Shanoah Montano headed home a cross from Paine off of a corner kick.

The ‘Jackets responded however, as Palomino netted another goal in the 59th minute off of a pass by Novis to make the score 2-2.

It was Schregel’s turn seven minutes later, as he scored for the second time this year by putting away a loose ball in the box THE BUZZ: Palomino was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the game…it was the second straight game MSUB has allowed a penalty kick and ended up drawing the match…Eli Williams made his first career start on the defensive unit for the ‘Jackets…the two assists gave Novis his first points of the season…CU played the final three minutes and overtime down a player after a red card was issued in the 87th minute.

“With what happened today, we are looking forward to playing NNU on Saturday,” Balog said. “We are going to be a tough team to beat this year.”

Sophomore Niklas Schregel.

COMING UP: MSUB remains on the road to face Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday in another GNAC match slated for 1:30 p.m. at the NNU Soccer Field in Nampa, Idaho. Live statistics will be available for Saturday’s match here.

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