The Roos are lining up win after win this season.

Streaking Roos feel right at home

By: David Cordill

Posted: 10/20/08

The UMKC men's soccer team stayed perfect at home by notching a 3-1 victory over the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) Saturday afternoon at Bourke Field.

The Kangaroos improved their record to 7-4-2 overall and have won all five of their home games this season.

UMKC has not won seven games this early in the schedule since 2001. That year Head Coach Rick Benben's squad posted the best record in the Kangaroo's Division I history, going 12-7-1 on the year.

The match was not as close as the final score indicated. The Roos ruled the day all over the pitch. Their only enemy through 90 minutes of soccer was the possibility of a team letdown.

UMKC assistant coach Fred Schlichting explained why that did not happen.

"We play to a standard of our game, regardless of our opponent," he said.

Schlichting complimented the squad as a whole then singled out a couple of players as keys to the Kangaroos dominance over the Bears.

"It was a team effort," he said. "Everybody contributed in good ways. [Junior defender] John David Hernandez stood out on defense. [Freshman midfielder] Sean Butler was very active on both sides of the ball."

UMKC was able to move the ball around effectively from the outset. Able to keep UCA off balance defensively, it did not take the Kangaroos long to jump on top of the Bears.

Barely six minutes into the match, junior midfielder Bryan Perez rung up his team-leading eighth goal of the year. Perez' shot, a soft arcing ball from 20 yards out was just high enough to escape deflection.

The shot resembled a lob more than it did a drive but Perez hit it just right and the Roos were up 1-0.

Sophomore defender Chris Markey got credit for the assist, his first of 2008.

Senior goalkeeper Ken Cooper would come up big for the Roos later in the half with a huge save after a would-be UCA scorer attempted to head in a corner kick. Cooper recorded four saves for the match and allowed a meaningless goal in the 89th minute.

The Kangaroos' next goal was a cleverly executed effort from senior midfielder Miguel Rodrigues who fed the ball into the penalty area to senior forward Brian Harris.

Harris kicked the ball back out to a Rodrigues who juked a move on UCA goalkeeper Ernesto Pena before he blasted the ball into the net.

"The defender bit outside and I took him in and played the ball to Harris. [When he got it back] I took the ball with conviction," Rodrigues said about his first tally of the season. "We work on that a lot in practice. We put emphasis on those kinds of drills."

The Kangaroos added a third strike at the 72:25 mark, when freshman midfielder Sean Butler found the back of the net for his second tally of the year.

Butler's shot went near post to put the game on ice for UMKC. Freshman forward Diego Rojas picked up the co-assist along with Bryan Perez.

UCA's Zach Burns would get the Bears lone score on the afternoon on an assist for Jordan Prescott. Burns was able to find the lose ball amid a tangle of players in the penalty area and put a shot past Cooper.

The matchup was the third between UMKC and UCA. The Kangaroos lead the series 3-0.

The Roos registered seven shots on goal on 15 shots total during the contest while the Bears fired five within range out of a total of 12.

The UMKC men's soccer team will face a tough conference foe on Senior Day for their final Summit League home game this year.

Saturday, Oct. 25, the Kangaroos will take on Oral Roberts University at Bourke Field on the campus of Rockhurst University. Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m.

dcordill@unews.com