RAPID CITY, South Dakota – The Regis University men's soccer team (6-2-1, 2-0 RMAC) remained undefeated in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play on Friday evening as they cruised to a 7-1 win over the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers (1-6-1, 0-1-0 RMAC) on the road.
How It Happened: Five total goals were scored in the opening half of play with Regis accounting for four of them. In fact, the Rangers scored two goals in the first six minutes of the game. Senior
Kristian Hooker got the party started as he received a pass from senior
Michael Jimenez and put RU on the board 1-0. Hooker then switched roles and fed a nice pass to junior
Vilhjalmur Kaldal who scored Regis' second goal in the first six minutes of play. The run was broken up with a goal from the home team, but Hooker countered with his second goal of the game in the 17
th minute off a pass from graduate student
Jean Carre. The final goal of the half came by way of senior
Ethan Willson who netted a goal to put the visiting Rangers in front 4-1 through the first 24:28. The scored would remain 4-1 at the halftime break.
In the second half, the RU offense still could not be contained. Kaldal recorded a second goal in the 71
st minute as freshman
Dalio Pekovic picked up the assist, and junior
Lucas Durval got in on the action with a shot that found the back of the net in the 82
nd minute. Less than a few seconds after the ensuing kick-off, Hooker bagged his hat trick with the seventh and final goal of the match. Graduate student
Jake Brown and freshman
Armando Armas picked up assists on the play, wrapping up a very productive day at the office for the Rangers' offense.
Game Notes: RU dominated nearly every aspect of the contest including time of possession, shots (23-7) and shots on goal (13-1). The corner kick tally, an area where Regis has struggled this season, tilted in favor of the visitors 6-1. Hooker bagged his first-career hat-trick with three goals and added an assist in the match while Kaldal finished with two goals. Durval, Willson were the other goal scorers in the game and it was Brown, Pekovic, Jimenez, Carre and Armas all picked up assists in the effort.
Up Next for the Rangers: After back-to-back wins to open RMAC play, the Regis University men's soccer team will be back in action next weekend as they welcome the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Mountain Lions and the Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves to the Regis Match Pitch for two more conference showdowns.