Men's Soccer Posts 4-1 Victory Over Ottawa

McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's soccer team got back to the .500 mark with a 4-1 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) victory over Ottawa University Wednesday night at McPherson Stadium.

The Braves (5-6-1, 3-2 KCAC) struck first as Rufus McIlrath scored in the 10th minute off an assist from Aaron Kavanagh.

The Bulldogs (5-5, 4-1 KCAC) got the equalizer in the 23rd minute on a goal by Hernan Maldonado (National City, Calif., San Diego Mesa College) off an assist from Greg Roller (Topeka, Kan., Pratt CC), then took the lead for good in the 31st minute on an unassisted goal by Christopher Kelly (Glasgow, Scotland, St. Ambrose HS).

McPherson increased its lead to 3-1 in the 70th minute as Roller put back a ball that Ottawa goalkeeper Angel Cruz was unable to handle cleanly.
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The Bulldogs' final goal came nearly three minutes later as Navid Istanbullu (Bremen, Germany, Oberschule Rockwinkel) headed in a corner kick off the foot of Kelly.

McPherson was credited with just 10 shots in the contest, but six found the frame. Roller led the way with three shots, while Kelly had a pair - both on goal.

Jose Alonso (Wichita, Kan., Derby HS) stopped six of seven Ottawa shots on goal en route to the victory.

Kavanagh led all players with four shots, including three on goal. Cruz made a pair of saves for the Braves.

"We had a good performance in a lot of areas tonight against a very organized defensive side," said head coach Doug Quint. "Ottawa hadn't give up a goal in three games. For us to put four goals on the board says a lot about some of the things we did."

The Bulldogs take to the road this weekend for a stiff test at league leader and No. 3-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. at the OKWU Soccer Field. In their three seasons in the KCAC, the Eagles have not dropped a regular-season KCAC match (26-0 through Oct. 11) and have lost just three times overall. One of those three losses came last season - to McPherson on their home pitch - in the semifinals of the KCAC Men's Soccer Tournament.