No. 12 Patriots extend RedStorm's woes

Rio Grande Sports Information
     WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. - The University of the Cumberlands got off to a quick start, scoring just over five minutes into the match, and never looked back en route to a 4-2 win over the University of Rio Grande, Saturday night, in non-conference men's soccer action at the UC Soccer Complex.
     The host Patriots, who were ranked No. 12 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 7-0-1 with the victory.
     Rio Grande, which was the equivalent of 31st in the latest coaches' poll, fell to 1-4-1 with a third consecutive loss and is now winless in its last four outings.
     The RedStorm finds itself three games under the .500 mark in regular season play for the first time since opening the 1999 campaign with three straight losses.
     The four-game winless streak is the first for the program is the first for the program since dropping four straight outings from Sept. 7-22, 2007.
     All four of the losses have come at the hands of teams currently ranked 13th or higher.
     Cumberlands scored three of its four goals in the opening half and led 3-0 at the intermission.
     Tjerk Meijs scored off of a touch from Emil Skursch just 5:05 into the match to give the Patriots a lead they would never relinquish, while Mario Fernandez and Rodrigo Riveros added goals of their own before the intermission.
     Shuma Sasaki and Skursch were credited with assists on the goal by Fernandez, while Fernandez had the assist on the Riveros.
     Rio Grande got on the scoreboard with 25:58 left to play when senior Diego Martinez (Santiago, Chile) found the back of the net off of a feed from senior Scott Gray (Strathaven, Scotland), but the Patriots got the goal back just under four minutes later when Sasaki scored an unassisted marker to make it 4-1.
     The RedStorm set the final score on an unassisted goal by sophomore Rafael Kawata (Sao Paulo, Brazil) with 7:02 remaining in the contest.
     Cumberlands enjoyed a 13-11 edge in shots and a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal, while Rio Grande had seven on the nine corner kick opportunities in the match.
     Javiero Izquierdo went the distance in goal for the Patriots and stopped three shots.
     Freshman Alix Jounay (Lorient, France) received his first start in net for Rio and was credited with five saves in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Saturday evening when it hosts rival Shawnee State University in River States Conference play.
     Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. at Evan E. Davis Field.