2005 News

Avila named to NAIA Daktronics Scholar All-America Team!

Ruben Avila (senior; Oswego, IL) has been named to the 2005 NAIA Daktronics Scholar All-America Team. Ruben is expected to graduate after the 2006 spring quarter with his Bachelor Degree in Business Administration.

This is the fifth time in as many seasons that at least one representative from the men's soccer program has been named an academic all-american.

Congratulations Ruben!

Sanchez named to CCAC First Team!

Inaki Sanchez (senior; Puebla, Mexico) has been named to the 2005 CCAC First Team for his third consecutive season. Sanchez, team captain, was named as one of four defenders to be on the CCAC First Team. He finished his career with eight goals and 17 assists and started 60 of 62 matches played over a four-year career. He also finishes his career as the Eagles only 3-time CCAC First Team selection.

"Inaki has been a core factor in his four years here. Since his third game at RMC, Inaki has started every match for us. His leadership and talent will be missed and hard to replace" commented Coach Ryan.

Congratulations Inaki!

Annual Soccer Banquet set!
The date for the Annual Soccer Banquet is set for:
Saturday, December 10, 2005 @ 5:00pm
Hilton - Springfield
700 East Adams
Springfield, IL 62701
Rendezvous Room

The banquet will recognize and honor the members of the men's and women's soccer teams. RSVP to Chris Ryan at 217-726-1677 or cryan@robertmorris.edu

Seniors Remembered!
Ruben Avila (2004 & 2005) - Transfer from College of DuPage, Ruben started 27 of 28 matches played in two seasons. Ruben recorded 5 goals and 5 assist with 1 game winning goal. Ruben will be graduating after the Spring quarter of 2006 with his degree in Business Administration.

Ozzie Lopez (2003-2005) - Transfer from Lincoln Land Community College, Ozzie started 39 of 42 matches played in three seasons. Ozzie recorded 17 goals and 1 assist with 3 game winning goals. Ozzie will be graduating after the Spring quarter of 2006 with his degree in Business Administration.

Samuel Kimba (2002-2005) - From Monrovia, Liberia, Sammy started 39 of 51 matches played in four seasons. Sammy recorded 6 goals and 2 assist with 2 game winning goals. Sammy will be graduating after the Spring quarter of 2006 with his degree in Business Administration.

Inaki Sanchez (2002-2005) - From Puebla, Mexico, Inaki started 61 of 63 matches played in four seasons. Inaki recorded 8 goals and 17 assist with 1 game winning goal. Inaki will be graduating after the Spring quarter of 2006 with his degree in Business Administration.

Robert Morris victorious on Senior Night!
Concluding their season and their careers; Inaki Sanchez, Sam Kimba, Ozzie Lopez and Ruben Avila visioned finishing with a flurry. Lopez and Avila put their exclamation on the game with two goals and an assist each. Contributing also to their 8-0 victory over visiting Harris-Stowe State College was freshman Conner Korberg, who recorded his first collegiate shutout. Orlando Gonzalez scored the games first goal, his first of the season, followed by Lopez and Avila. Avila, again, and Shane Wooden added his first goal of the season to provide the Eagles a 5-0 halftime lead. Lopez would score his second of the game in the second half along with goals by Adrian Skital and Stanoja Kuzmanonvic.

RMC loses to #20 Mid-Continent University!
Facing #20 Mid-Continent University, RMC played with their opponents till the 68th minute when MCU would take control over the later stages of the match. MCU struck first in the 28th minute and the score would remain 0-1 heading into half. RMC started the second half in a flurry applying pressure to the MCU defense. Just two minutes into the half, Ozzie Lopez received a pass in MCU's penalty box, proceeded to beat his defender forcing another MCU player to trip him in the box. Inaki Sanchez converted the penalty for his fourth goal of the season. MCU withstood the initial pressure and regained the lead in the 68th minute and followed up with goals in the 70th and 78th minutes.

Freshman GK Conner Korberg returned to action after missing RMC's last five matches due to injury. He recorded nine saves in the match, three one-on-one situations that could have opened up the scoring more.

Eagles fall from post-season contention!
RMC would have needed to win on the road against IIT and then at home to Judson to at least given themselves an opportunity for post-season play in the CCAC. They will face Judson on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at SASA Field #1 in Springfield, IL. Unfortunately, instead of playing for a post-season birth, the Eagles will look to put a blemish on Judson's undefeated run in the CCAC. Kick-off is set for 6:00pm.

With everything on the line for both squads (RMC and IIT entered their match at 1-5 in conference), RMC battled IIT for 90 minutes to come up just short losing 1-2. Dane McGinthy put the Eagles ahead in the 24th minute when he slotted his left footed shot near-post past the IIT GK. IIT would equalize in the 57th minute and score the eventual game-winner in 87th minute. This was McGinthy's third goal in as many games.

Eagles earn first CCAC victory!
RMC recorded their first CCAC win and shut-out of the year when they traveled to play the University of Saint Francis. RMC's first goal came at the 20th minute. As Ozzie Lopez' corner kick was cleared away by a USF defender, Ruben Avila collected the ball and fired a shot back on goal. The USF goalie made the initial save but gave up a rebound that was pounced on by Dane McGinthy who slotted it underneath the USF goal keeper. Ambo Mwakatapanya would score next for RMC on a powerful 8-yard header off Inaki Sanchez' free kick from 45-yards out. Sophomore defender Krystian Skital would provide RMC with insurance with a brilliant strike from 25-yards out. Once again, an Ozzie Lopez corner kick would be headed out by a USF defender but this time right to Krystian Skital whose one-time volley sailed into the upper-90. Stanoja Kuzmanovic recorded seven saves and the first shut-out for RMC of the 2005 season.

Eagles fall to visiting Trojans!
With a chance to upset co-leaders of the CCAC, RMC was unable to find the goal they needed to knock off visiting Trinity International University (4-0 CCAC). It would be the Eagles to score first in the 17th minute as Adrian Skital converted a nice through ball from left back Adrian Rojas. Skital timed his run perfectly and slotted his shot past the diving TIU GK. TIU would capture the lead on a pair of goals less than minutes apart. In the 29th minute, a let down by the RMC defense allowed a TIU winger to cross the ball uncontested to the far post to an unmarked TIU attacker who calmly struck home his volley. A quick foul from the pursuing kick-off awarded to TIU let them take lead. Their restart from just inside half was sent deep into the RMC area. The defense was caught ball watching as only one RMC defender challenged for the ball against three on-rushing TIU attackers. TIU was able to win the ball and finish for their second goal. The score would stand at 2-1 at the half.

Regrouped for the second half, RMC pushed the attack in the early stages resulting in their second goal. A crafty little chip from Ruben Avila found Adrian Skital streaking into the box. Skital carried the ball to the end line before driving it across the face of the goal to Ambo Mwakatapanya. Ambo redirected the initial cross to an Dane McGinthy who struck it into the back of the net. It would be a costly turn-over in the 63rd minute that lead to a TIU counter-attack goal for the final of 3-2. RMC made several last attempts to find the equalizer but all were either off target or defended well from TIU.

Eagles remain winless in CCAC play!
Since losing in their CCAC opener, the Eagles have remained winless their last three matches losing; 1-2 OT, 0-3 and 2-3 OT. In those three matches, RMC has recorded 26 shots on goal to 27 by their opponents.

The challenge to turn this around continues as the Eagles host visiting Trinity International University, currently 3-0 in CCAC play, in their next match.

Eagles lose CCAC opener on the road!
Traveling to Milwaukee to face CCAC opponent Cardinal Stritch, RMC looked to rebound after back-to-back losses against Grand View and UIS. "I thought this could be a good game for us. We are 0-0 in conference play and could use this has a springboard to get back on the winning track. Stritch was very opportunistic in creating their chances and finishing them. It's frustrating for the guys. I feel we're playing some good soccer but one or two chances we're giving away is costing us games."

Eagles beaten in cross-town classic!
Coming off their 0-3 defeat by then #16 ranked Grand View College, RMC was looking to rebound against cross-town foes the University of Illinois-Springfield. With both teams struggling to find wins and the goal-scoring touch, this seemed to be a very even match-up on paper. However, just three minutes into the contest, an attempted clear by a RMC defender was deflected off a UIS forward and spun awkwardly into the side netting for a 1-0 lead. Settling in, the game was well played back and forth with scoring opportunities for both sides, but in the 40th minute a UIS deflected shot from 30 yards found the side netting to make it 2-0. Failing to finish out the half strong, UIS tallied back to back in the 42nd and 43rd minute for a 4-0 half-time lead. UIS would go on to score three more goals in the second half. "This was clearly a night that UIS found their scoring touch they had been missing their previous five matches. For us, we need to find our character, regroup and prep ourselves for upcoming CCAC play."

RMC notches first victory!
It wasn't text book, but the Eagles notched their first victory of the 2005 campaign. Visiting NCAA D2 Delta State capitalized first on a defensive lapse by the Eagles in the 10th minute of play. The Eagles stayed focus and continued to press the attack, many times getting runners behind the Delta State defense. Some missed opportunities along with some strong goal keeping kept the visitors on top until the 38th minute. On a nice combination, Fredy Beltran (sophomore; Canete Concepcion, Chile) received a pass from Andy Clark (freshman; Normal, IL) and slotted a clever through ball to Inaki Sanchez (senior; Puebla, Mexico) who tucked it past the GK. Sanchez would put the Eagles ahead for good in the 72nd minute. Sanchez converted his penalty opportunity after Ozzie Lopez (senior; Pueble, Mexico) was pulled down from behind in the Delta penalty box.

Connor Korberg (freshman; Vernon, British Columbia) earned his first collegiate victory. Korberg recorded 5 saves. RMC outshot Delta 17 to 9.

Eagles hot and cold in California!
Facing Vanguard University, the 2004 11th ranked team in the country, the Eagles battled and raised their level of play since their opener against St. Ambrose forcing Vanguard to "pack it in" the last 10 minutes. Vanguard scored first off a well taken direct kick beating RMC goalie Connor Korberg. The Eagles would tie the match before half as Ozzie Lopez received a beautiful 40 yard driven ball from Ambo Mwakatapanya. Lopez controlled the ball off his chest, slid the ball past his defender and struck it under the diving Vanguard GK. Vanguard, however, would regain the lead in the 83rd minute. With RMC pressing the attack, Vanguard were able to catch the Eagles in transition and score on a breakaway with less than 8 minutes to play.

Facing host Biola, RMC apparently caught a break around the 20th minutes as a Biola player was ejected due to a dangerous tackle. Ultimately, the ejection seemed to re-motivate the host school as they were able to strike first playing a man down. Looking to take advantage of their "man up" situation in the 2nd half, RMC was unfortunately not on their game, and the host school continued to roll.

Eagles drop season opener!
After defeats in 2002 and 2003, St. Ambrose came out victorious in the season opener for both squads. Traveling to Springfield, IL, St. Ambrose played with a sense of urgency the Eagles could not match or play with until about the 60th minute. St. Ambrose opened the scoring in the 11th minute when a questionable no-call on an off-sides could have prevented the goal. SAU would tally again in the 34th and 49th minutes of the game. Poor decision making and effort defensively would prove costly for the Eagles. When chances were created for the host school, opportunities were not seized. A handful of scoring chances went squandered by a lack of quality finishing.

"The positive we can take from this is the boys never quit on themselves or the game when down 0-3," stated Coach Ryan. The Eagles would make the scoreline respectable with goals of their own in the 85th and 90th minutes. Inaki Sanchez' free kick in the 85th minute was tipped off the top of the defensive wall and Stanoja Kuzmanovic outraced his marker and headed in the Eagles first goal of 2005. Just minutes later, Ruben Avila's point blank shot was saved by the St. Ambrose GK and the ensuing rebound struck a SAU defender that resulted in a RMC penalty shot. Inaki Sanchez would calmly find the back of the net.

The Eagles must now regroup and prepare for Vanquard University and Biola University in La Mirada, CA.

New Faces for 2005!
The 2005 RMC Eagles have added eight new faces to join ten returning members from the 2004 squad.

Conner Korberg; freshman GK from Vernon, British Columbia
Adrian Rojas; junior defender from Springfield, IL
Joe DeFreitas; freshman forward from Rochester, IL
Andy Clark; freshman defender from Normal, IL
TC Byerly; freshman midfielder from Rochester, IL
Cesar Cifuentes; sophomore forward from Shelton, WA
Fredy Beltran; sophomore midfielder from Springfield, IL
Orlando Gonzalez; junior midfielder from O'Fallon, IL

"I look for a lot of these young men battling for playing time right away!" stated Coach Ryan. "The biggest challenge will be for the incoming freshman adjusting to the pace and physical nature of the college game over high school."