If eight goals on Friday night weren't good enough, how about seven more the next night? The Colorado College men's soccer team capped its opening weekend with a 7-0 win over Concordia College-Moorhead on Saturday night.
"Job well done," head coach
Scott Palguta said. "It was a great start to the season. Everybody worked hard. It was nice to allow everyone to play and contribute to their group because they've all earned it."
The Tigers utilized seven different players to account for the seven goals. CC finished the night with 23 shots, including 17 on target, while holding the Cobbers to two shots and only one on target.
Jack Hilliard led the Tigers with a career-high four points. The sophomore scored a goal and was credited with two assists—his first two-assist game of his career.
Hilliard scored in the 20th minute off a free kick that rocketed past the defensive wall and into the right side of the net to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The inaugural goal for CC came in the 12th minute via a Luke Stefaski shoot-and-score inside the box.
Dylan Stapley followed suit in the 36th minute with his first career goal. The sophomore recorded his first career score after Hilliard fed him an excellent ball off a free kick; Stapley came flying through the back door and headed on to give CC the 3-0 lead.
The Tigers rode the 3-0 advantage into the halftime break. CC had nine shots in the first half alone (seven on goal).
In the second half, the scoring picked right back up again in the 56th minute as
Oliver Ramirez was in the right place at the right time to knock a bouncing ball in after
Remi Maher fed Ramirez and the ball bounced off the crossbar as the sophomore then used his right foot to put the ball in. It was Ramirez's first goal of the season.
A minute later, Maher called his own number with a beautiful left-footed shot to the top left corner of the net. It was also the senior's first goal of the season, and he finished with a career-high three points.
CC's scoring concluded in the 60th and 65th minute as
Alexander Ward collected his second goal of the season after an assist from Hilliard, his second of the night. Finally, Sophomore
Owen Lewis added his name to the scoring hat, flushing his first career goal after a pass from
Rex Karjian, who finished the night with two assists.
Eight players recorded a point for CC.
For the first time in program history, the Tigers scored 15 goals in the season's first two games.
"That's a lot of fun; to score that many goals is rare over two games at home," Palguta said. "We'll take it. I'll let them enjoy it, and we turn the page tomorrow and look forward."
CC will play its first road games of the season next week, starting at Nebraska-Wesleyan on Saturday, September 7, followed by a neural game in Nebraska against Simpson College.
