Box Score RAPID CITY, S.D. – The No. 11 ranked Regis University men's soccer team (11-2-1, 8-2-1 RMAC) made a mid-week trip to clash with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers (2-12, 2-9 RMAC) on Wednesday. In the wet, rainy and chilling condition at Sioux Park, Regis came together and earned their ninth shutout of the season with 2-0 victory over the Hardrockers.
With both teams struggling to gain their traction on the wet surface, much of the battle for the players was to keep their footing when making passes and taking shots.
12 minutes into the first half, the Rangers got the scoring started as redshirt-junior
Eduardo Belmar netted his third goal of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Junior
Sawyer Lincoln picked up the assist on the play for his second of the year, and fourth point of the season.
The team continued to work through their game plan full of attacking which led to another goal in the 30
th minute. This time it was senior
Tom Grimley who took a pass from senior
Jacob Lever, shooting the ball past the keeper extending RU's lead to two goals. With that goal, Grimley picked up his seventh of the season with Lever earning his first assist of 2016 on the play.
Regis and SDSM&T battled for the final 15 minutes of the half but the score at halftime read 2-0 with the Rangers ahead. The visitors enjoyed a 8-4 shot advantage at the break, with both teams taking three corner kicks.
The second half was far less exciting as the first, but it made for some competitive soccer. Both teams exchanged attacks and each time the defense handled the situations thrown at them. The Rangers defense held strong as they did in the first half and did not concede a goal. The effort resulted in the ninth shutout of the season for RU.
Senior
Ciaran Gibson (4-1) picked up his third shutout of the year as he thwarted all of the shots sent his way. Facing a total of eight shots, Gibson made two important saves that led to a Regis win in the end.
Redshirt-senior
Ryan Urwiller took four shots in the match, with Lever chipping in with three, and Belmar adding two as the Rangers outshot the Hardrockers 13-8 and finishedwith a 9-6 edge in the corner kick battle.
The win tonight guarantees RU a spot in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament at the end of the season. Up next for the No. 11 men's soccer team is a matchup with Colorado State University-Pueblo (6-8, 4-6 RMAC) on Sunday, October 23 at 2:30 p.m. on the Regis Match Pitch.
