Wildcats blank Rio men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - To look at the final statistics from Saturday night's men's soccer matchup, you would've thought that the University of Rio Grande emerged victorious against Indiana Wesleyan University.
     Unfortunately, the final score didn't favor the RedStorm.
     The visiting Wildcats snapped a scoreless tie with a goal just over 14 minutes into the second half and then made it stand up defensively for a 1-0 win in a non-conference battle at Evan E. Davis Field.
     IWU, which entered the match among the teams receiving votes in the most recent NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 7-1 with the victory.
     Rio Grande, the No. 4 team in the same poll, dropped to 3-1-1 with the loss.
     The RedStorm enjoyed a 19-12 advantage in shots overall - including an 11-3 edge in the opening half - and had a 10-3 cushion in shots on frame, but failed to find the back of the net for the first time since a 2-0 loss at the University of Northwestern Ohio on Sept. 14, 2022.
     Indiana Wesleyan scored what proved to be the game's only marker with 30:25 left to play when Jose Garcia scored on a direct kick from just outside of the 18-yard box following a foul against Rio.
     Three of the RedStorm's 10 shots on goal came after the Wildcats grabbed the lead, but the equlizer never came.
     The contest was a physical affair, with the two teams combining for 27 fouls and 10 yellow card cautions. IWU had 15 of the 27 fouls and half of cautions.
     Graduate seenior goalie Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil) had two saves in a losing cause for Rio Grande.
     Aaron Carr stopped 10 shots in the win for the Wildcats.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Thursday night when it faces first-year River States Conference member and long-time rival Shawnee State University in its league opener.
     Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at Shawnee Turf in Portsmouth, Ohio.