The #13 Tiger men's soccer team hosted the Red Tails of Hawkeye Community College at 3:00 on a windy Saturday afternoon. The match up was dominated by MCC star Striker, Kino Ryosuke, who scored three goals in route to the 5-0 win. Ryosuke has scored 17 goals so far this season, just one shy from surpassing his season total from last year.
"I'm very happy with the way I've played this season, being a striker it's important for me to be able to score goals for the team and because of our strong mid field I have many opportunities to score." Stated sophomore Striker Kino Ryosuke after the game. "We still have to continue to keep working in practice to get better as a team because we are chasing a conference championship and I think we have the talent to get it done."
In the first half, the Tigers choose to take the wind at their back and the strategy worked early. The Kino Ryosuke and Rafael Vacas one two punch has paid off for the Tigers this season as Ryosuke leads the team in goals and Vacas leads the team in assist. The pair hooked up twice Saturday afternoon in the first four minutes to put the Tigers up 2-0. Just two minutes later, David Kromah scored from a cross from Eneko Lasheras to put the Tigers up 3-0. The Tigers continued to dominate the time of possession in the first half before Ryosuke scored his third goal of the afternoon in the twenty-fifth minute from a pass by Evandro Resende that put the Tigers up 4-0. Resende would go on to score the final goal of the day in the thirty-third minute of the first half to put the Tigers safely ahead 5-0.
After halftime, the teams switch sides forcing the Tigers to make runs into the wind. The first half saw the Tigers take twelve shots on goal with the wind compared to six in the second half going into the wind. With fewer quality shots on goal, the Tigers went scoreless in the second half but because of solid goalie play by Juan Gonzalez and Joel Serrano, the Tigers would not surrender a point themselves holding off the Red Tails for a 5-0 victory and move to 8-1 on the season.
The Tigers will be back in action Friday October 6 when they travel to Dakota County Technical College. The Blue Knights are 4-7-1 on the season and 0-4-1 in conference play. The #13 Tigers will be back in Marshalltown on October 11 for a conference matchup with the #6 ranked Warriors of Indian Hills.
