RedStorm stops Shawnee State

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - A late start on a chilly night due to Senior Night festivities for host Shawnee State University did do much to put life into the University of Rio Grande.
     Perhaps it was a scuffle just over 15-1/2 minutes into the opening half which lit a fire under the RedStorm.
     Head coach Scott Morrissey's team snapped a scoreless tie just six minutes after the fracas and then added two more scores before halftime en route top a 5-0 triumph over the rival Bears, Thursday night, in River States Conference men's soccer action at Shawnee Turf.
     Rio Grande improved to 7-4-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play with the victory.
     Shawnee State dropped to 7-4-3 overall and 3-3-1 against RSC foes with the loss.
     All was quiet at the outset until a pushing match along the far sideline turned into fisticuffs and a stoppage in play with 15:33 gone from the scoreboard clock.
     When the dust had settled, Rio Grande junior Lucas O'Donnell (Leeds, England) and Shawnee State's Sean Williams were assessed red cards and ejected from the contest.
     The RedStorm responded with a pair of goals by freshman Facundo Rossich (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - one off an assist by freshman Allen Julian (Villa Berthet, Argentina) with 24:29 left before the intermission and another six minutes later off of a cross from left to right by sophomore Estevao Goncalves (Sao Paulo, Brazil) - for a 2-0 lead.
     Junior Luke Tinkler (Nottingham, England) tacked on a score via a touch by freshman Andre Louro (Lisbon, Portugal) with 3:42 remaining before the break for a 3-0 halftime lead.
     Goncalves added an unassisted marker with 20:55 left to play and Tinkler assisted on a score by freshman Nahuel Coppiz (Cordoba, Argentina) with just 2:27 remaining to set the final score.
     The game featured 24 combined fouls - 12 on each team - and five yellow card cautions (four on Shawnee State) in addition to the two red card ejections.
     Rio Grande tallied a 14-5 edge in shots and a 10-1 advantage in shots on goal, while the Bears had three of the four corner kick opportunities.
     Freshman Samy Hamou (Paris, France) had one save in goal for the RedStorm.
     Toby Forsythe started and suffered the loss for Shawnee State, surrendering the first four goals and recording five saves.
     Pablo Ruiz finished up over the final 20:55 and allowed the RedStorm's final marker.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to be back in action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Indiana University East in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Evan E. Davis Field.