heRAPID CITY, S.D. – The Regis University men's soccer team took on the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers on Sunday, with junior forward Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit earning his fourth brace of his career en route to a 2-1 win.

The Rangers (5-9-2 overall, 2-4-1 RMAC) secured a much-needed six points on the weekend with the Hardrockers (3-13 overall, 1-6 RMAC) losing their third straight match.

"We're always happy with a few points and it's our first six-point weekend of the season," said Regis head men's soccer coach, Taylor Diem. "Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the weekend but thought that we could've done a bit better of a job managing the game. But again, with where we're at right now, three points is three points and we're happy to take them." 

How It Happened: Regis got off to a fast start on Sunday afternoon with graduate student forward Michael Jimenez taking the first shot of the match in the eighth minute. 

Only 22 minutes later, Carlson-Du Toit scored the first goal of the match with a shot to the lower left area of the goal thanks to a textbook pass from Jimenez.

For the remainder of the half, the Rangers consistently attacked the offensive zone with a total of eight shots, three of which were on goal.

As the second half began, the Rangers continued their offensive pursuit with the second goal from Carlson-Du Toit coming exactly thirty minutes after the first. 

His shot found its mark in the lower left of the goal thanks to a pass from graduate student forward Vilhjalmur Kaldal that put the New Zealand-native squarely in front of the goal.

"Ray's really doing a good job finding himself in goal-scoring opportunities and goal-scoring positions and he's doing well finishing his chances off. Him finding his form right now is absolutely needed with where we're at in the standings, so I'm happy for Ray," Diem said.

Playing a man down after the 59th minute, the Rangers held the Hardrockers to only five shots for the remainder of the match, one of which found the back of the net in the 79th minute. 

The Rangers' defense stepped up for the final 20 minutes and prevented any more goals for the Hardrockers.

Game Notes:

• The Rangers led in shots, 15-11
• New-Zealand native Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit's brace is his fourth of his career, and the first of the 2023 season
• Sophomore goalkeeper Cristian Sattin finished the afternoon with five saves

Up Next: The Rangers return to the Regis Turf Fields on Thursday with a match against CSU Pueblo, kickoff is set for 7 PM.

"We've got two quality opponents next week in Pueblo and UCCS so we'll do our best to recover before Thursday and we'll go again to try for another six points and put ourselves in the position to play in the conference tournament. It's a big week ahead," said Diem.