Rio men blank Oakland City, claim RSC regular season title

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - All it took was a breathing room for the University of Rio Grande to break the spirit of upset-minded Oakland City University.
     After a nip-and-tuck battle for more than 69 minutes, the RedStorm scored a quartet of goals over the final 20-plus minutes of the match en route to a 5-0 win over the Mighty Oaks in the River States Conference Men's Soccer Match of the Week, Saturday afternoon, at sun-splashed Evan E. Davis Field.
     The RedStorm improved to 9-4-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play, wrapping up the league's regular season championship and homefield advantage throughout the upcoming RSC Championship tournament with an eight straight victory.
     Rio Grande also extended its conference unbeaten streak to 43 consecutive games.
     Oakland City slipped to 9-4-4 overall and 6-1-1 with the loss.
     The Mighty Oaks found themselves looking at a 1-0 deficit after an unassisted goal by Rio sophomore Rafael Kawata (Sao Paulo, Brazil) with 13:31 left in the first half and the same shortfall was in play as the match entered its 70th minute.
     That's when Rio sophomore Lucas O'Donnell (Leeds, England) headed in a pass from Kawata with 20:33 remaining in the contest to make it 2-0.
     The goal started a flurry of RedStorm scores, which included the final three markers hitting the scoreboard in a span of just under four minutes.
     Kawata scored again - off of a touch by sophomore Jevon Shuriah (Toll Gate, Jamaica) - with 10:39 left to make it 3-0, senior Joe McInnes (Airdrie, Scotland) found the back of the net on a penalty kick a little more than two minutes later and Shuriah closed out the scoring with a goal via a feed from freshman Felipe Braga (Presidente Prudente, Brazil) with 6:51 left to play.
     Rio Grande finished with a narrow 13-11 edge in overall shots, including 8-3 in shots on goal, while both teams had five corner kick chances.
     Senior Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil) had three saves in a clean sheet effort in goal for the RedStorm.
     Jacob Robinson had three saves of his own in the loss for Oakland City.
     RSC Championship play begins on Wednesday with quarterfinal round action.
     Rio Grande will host either Shawnee State University or Indiana University East in semifinal round play on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m.