CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State picked up its first win in Great American Conference play, as four Hillcats scored to propel RSU to a 5-2 victory over Oklahoma Baptist at Soldier Field.
 
The Hillcats (4-2-1, 1-2 GAC) and Bison (3-4-0, 1-2-0 GAC) renewed a rivalry that hadn't met on a soccer pitch since 2015, with mostly their history coming in the NAIA. Thursday night's battle saw the teams combined for 44 shots in an action-packed game that saw three first-half goals and four more in the second half.
 
Rogers State took the lead as Jake Simpson cleaned up a rebound off of the post in the 18^th minute for his fifth goal of the season. The goal started when Michael Turner played a long diagonal ball to Chris Sowder, who then beat his defender and put a shot past goalkeeper Elias Diaz. The shot hit off the inside the post but bounced out to a waiting Simpson.
 
The lead was short lived, as Oklahoma Baptist scored 29 seconds later as Alejandro Castillo won the ball off the Hillcat defense and beat Austin Wormell with a shot from the top of the box, tucking it just inside the right post.
 
Jaxon Pitt would put the Hillcats back in the lead in the 23^rd minute, working a give-and-go play with Noah Robson at the right corner of the penalty area. Robson played the ball to the top of the box and Pitt fired a left-footed strike into the upper left corner of the goal for his first of the season.
 
The Hillcats would hold onto the advantage over the final 23 minutes of the half to take a 2-1 lead into the break. Wormell had two saves over the first 45 minutes with Diaz having one stop.
 
Less than three minutes into the second half, Jordan Watson doubled the Hillcats lead with a great individual effort. From the left wing, Watson dribbled past his defender and fired a shot from an angle at about 12 yards, tucking it underneath a diving Diaz's arm into the goal for his second of the season.
 
The second half would feature 16 shots on goal between the two teams, but it took over 30 minutes for the next goal.
 
Pitt scored his second goal of the game in the 78^th minute to all but clinch the victory for Rogers State. Cairo Allen started the scoring play by splitting a pair of defenders and then finding Pitt near the top of the box. Pitt then slipped past his defender and into the penalty area before sliding a left-footed shot just inside the right post to put the Hillcats ahead 4-1.
 
Oklahoma Baptist would get one goal back just 43 seconds later. Dominic Gibson bicycle kicked a throw-in past Wormell from a tight angle for the Bison's second goal of the game.
 
Rogers State held their two-goal advantage for the next four minutes before freshman Sebastian Hernandez would score his first goal as a Hillcat in the 83^rd minute. Luke Morgan played a long, floating ball from the center circle into the left side of the penalty area. From a tight angle, just yards off the end line, Hernandez flicked the ball off of a bounce over a charging Diaz and into the net to cap the scoring.
 
Wormell added seven more saves in the second half to finish the game with nine stops for Rogers State. Diaz had six saves for the Bison.
 
Oklahoma Baptist received five yellow cards in the game, while Rogers State picked up two cautions.
 
The win for Rogers State is the first of the conference season and snaps a short, two-game losing skid. Rogers State's five goals is the most for the Hillcats since they won 5-0 at home against Eastern New Mexico on October 7, 2017.
 
Thursday night's seven goals by both opponents is the most in a single game for RSU since the Hillcats defeated Southwest Baptist 6-1 in September of 2015.
 
The Hillcats will be back in action Saturday afternoon in another key Great American Conference battle, welcoming in Southern Nazarene to Claremore to renew another rivalry from the NAIA era. Rogers State will kickoff with the Crimson Storm at 1 p.m. at Soldier Field in the 11th meeting all-time between the two programs.