Roos ruffle Cardinals 4-1

By: David Cordill

Posted: 8/25/08

Held scoreless after 110 minutes last week, the UMKC men's soccer team broke loose Friday night at William Jewell College, punching across two goals in each frame against the Cardinals for a 4-1 victory.

Four separate scorers found the back of the net for the Roos. The first, a strike from freshman forward Diego Rojas, came via a deflection early on. After receiving a centering pass from senior forward Brian Harris, Rojas, a native of Bogotá, Columbia, fired into traffic, putting UMKC up 1-0 in the seventh minute.

The Roos made it 2-0 late in the first half after Rojas was fouled inside the penalty area. UMKC junior midfielder Brian Perez took the penalty kick, but was denied by the William Jewell goalkeeper on his first attempt. The sharpshooting Perez then got the rebound and drove it home for UMKC's second score of the evening.

Sophomore midfielder John Byron Sosa took full advantage of another UMKC penalty kick opportunity in the 58th minute. Harris was forced to the ground by a trailing defender on the fringes of the box, setting up the chance for the Kangaroos. On the ensuing effort, Sosa was able to put the ball past a lunging Cardinal goalkeeper for a 3-0 advantage.

William Jewell managed to break their silence in the 67th minute, making it 3-1 after converting a throw in near the UMKC goal. The Cardinal goal was the first scored on the Roos in over 176 minutes of preseason soccer.

But in the 82nd minute of the match, the Kangaroos were successful on a third penalty kick, this time off the foot of sophomore defender Chris Markey. Again, Rojas was fouled in penalty area. This time he was dragged to the turf from behind after getting a ball from Perez. Markey stepped up to the mark for the Roos and hit for their fourth goal of the match.

Afterward, UMKC did not face any serious threat from the Cardinals and went on to win their first exhibition match of the season. Last week, the Kangaroos were on one side of a 0-0 stalemate at Drury University.

The Roos were two of three on penalty kicks in the match with William Jewell, but, with Perez's quick reaction to his blocked shot, UMKC showed its ability to capitalize in the important moments.

This preseason game set a positive tone for what promises to be a challenging (but hopefully rewarding) season.

dcordill@unews.com