Iowa Wesleyan ruins Red Devils

Iowa Wesleyan soccer is on the board in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Both IW teams blew out Eureka on Wednesday to move to 1-1 in conference play. The women won 7-1 and the men took their game 5-0.

The women were up first, and they wasted no time putting up goals. The Tigers had four goals in the first half, three of which came from Grace Alongi. This came despite going against a fierce East Lake wind.

Alongi popped a shot over the Red Devil keeper to open the scoring in the eighth inning. Jaiden Rogers sent a shot in between the keeper's legs in the 12th minute and Alongi tacked on two more in the 20th and 39th minutes to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead at halftime.

'We were trying to get the wind in the first half to get a jump-start in the game,” said Tiger head coach Chris Early. 'Obviously we lost the toss and had to go into it, but the girls showed some mental toughness through that, and we played well in the first half. We got four in the first half against the wind, while not giving up any chances.”

Alongi picked up her fourth goal early in the second half, scoring just two minutes and 42 seconds into the period. Alex Eyman followed with a goal less than five minutes later and the Tigers were roaring, 6-0.

Eureka's Pheonix Johnson ruined the shutout bid with a goal in the 59th minute. Alongi's fifth goal, in the 75th minute, answered Johnson's score and put the Tigers up 7-1, where it would stay.

Early says Wednesday's game was being used as a preperation game and that Saturday's matchup with MacMurray is one of the most important games the Tigers will play this year.

'It's a game that if we show up and play well, and play hard, then we can compete in it and get a result,” Early said. 'If we get a result on Saturday, that makes four wins, and that would be the most wins in program history since going Division III. It's a great opportunity for us to keep this program going forward.”

Alongi's five goals led the team. Rogers and Eyman each finished with one. Jessica Lincoln, Elwynn Tamahaga and Jacquiline Ivers each had an assist. Destiny Colon saved two of three shots faced to earn the win in net.

The men jumped on the Red Devils immediately. Carlos Mateo deflected the ball in on a send by Fabian Arvizu just 54 seconds into the game. That early score would be the only goal until under two minutes remaining in the game when Cristian Garcia scored to make it 2-0.

'We did some scouting on (Eureka) and they're usually the team that gets out first on teams,” men's coach Tony Odorisio said about their quick start. 'So we flipped it on them this time.”

The Tigers controlled the game throughout the second half. Arvizu knocked in a goal in the 55th minute. Sebastian Sosa scored in the 60th minute, and Jake O'Farrell put the exclimation point on the win with a goal in the 82nd.

Arvizu and Mateo each finished the game with a goal and an assist. Sosa, Garcia and O'Farrell all ended the game with one goal. Rogerio Rodrigues and Breandan Kirwan each had one assist. Chris Rimmer didn't face any shots in net.

After the game, Odorisio says his team is ready for the conference season, and that they learned a lot from a handful of close losses against a quality non-conference schedule.

'Our record shows that we played really tough competition,” Odorisio said. 'We'd rather do that than play teams and win five or six to nothing. We don't learn anything from that.”