RedStorm men start fast, dominate SMWC

Rio Grande Sports Information
     TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The University of Rio Grande overwhelmed host St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in the opening half and cruised to a 6-0 triumph over the Pomeroys, Thursday afternoon, in River States Conference men's soccer action at the Rose-Hulman Soccer Field.
     The RedStorm, ranked No. 9 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 8-1-1 overall and 5-0 against conference foes with the victory.
     St. Mary-of-the-Woods slipped to 1-8-1 overall and 1-3 in league play as a result of the loss.
     The game was played at nearby Rose-Hulman College's turf facility to offset a steady rain which fell for a good portion of the day.
     Six different players scored goals for Rio Grande, which outshot the Pomeroys, 18-1, in the opening half on its way to a 4-0 advantage at the intermission.
     The RedStorm finished with a 28-3 cushion in shots overall, a 15-0 edge in shots on goal and were responsible for all six of the game's corner kick tries.
     Senior Benjamin Cam Orellana (Santiago, Chile) was Rio's offensive star, scoring the game's final marker with just 1:05 left to play while assisting on four other goals in just 65 minutes of action.
     Sophomore Altan Sayar (Kreuzlingen, Switzerland) shined as well, scoring one goal and assisting on another during his 62 minutes on the pitch.
     Rio Grande head coach Scott Morrissey substituted liberally throughout the contest, with 18 different players seeing action and only two - graduate senior keeper Matheus de Campos and Harry Walsh - playing the entire 90 minutes.
Cam Orellana assisted on each of the RedStorm's first three goals.
     Graduate senior Julian Fally (Vienna, Austria) got the scoring underway just 5:02 into the match, while senior Joe McInnes (Airdrie, Scotland) and Sayar found the back of the net with 30:44 and 19:10 remaining in the first half, respectively, to make it 3-0.
     Sayar and senior Rodrigo Basso (Santiago, Chile) were credited with an assist on a goal by freshman Tommy Munoz Salazar (San Jose, Costa Rica) just 53 seconds after Sayar's goal to give Rio its 4-0 halftime cushion.
     Freshman Lucas O'Donnell (Leeds, England) scored off of a dual assist by Basso and Cam Orellana with 10:30 left to play to make it 5-0, while Cam Orellana's marker set the final score.
de Campos earned the clean sheet in net for the RedStorm without recording a save.
     SMWC keeper Harry Jackson had eight stops in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday at Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky.
     Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EST.