CLAREMORE, Okla. - No. 25 Rogers State men's soccer (8-3-3, 4-2-2) tied Newman (3-10-1, 2-5-1) 1-1 on a rainy Thursday night at Soldier Field.
The Jets created the first chances of the first half, but RSU worked into the attack with shots from
Gian Filizzola and
Matthew Reed, a corner kick in the 22nd minute, and a
Louis Bassett attempt in the 31st minute. The Jets pressed back with two Yohsuke Ono shots saved by
Tristan Miller, a corner in the 34th minute, a Skylur Staley shot and another corner in the 36th minute before Tomas Melon scored from Daiki Okada in the 37th minute to put the Jets ahead 1-0. The Hillcats equalized in the 43rd minute when
Brandon O'Rourke (4) scored off
Jamie Kennedy's assist. O'Rourke added another shot and RSU earned a corner in the final minutes as the half ended tied 1-1.
The Hillcats generated the first chances of the second half, with Bassett and
Miguel Madrigal putting shots forward in the opening minutes before the Jets answered with three attempts, including one by Oscar Duffy that Miller saved at 49:50. The half stayed tied as RSU added a corner at 54:03 and an O'Rourke shot at 57:54, while the Jets came back with corner pressure of their own and Daiki Okada sent a shot high at 74:01. The Cats made a late push with O'Rourke forcing a save from Guilherme Borges at 79:40,
Conor Mills putting another shot on frame at 80:21 and Filizzola hitting the woodwork on the same timestamp. The closing stretch turned physical, with the Jets receiving yellow cards at 83:44 and 89:40, and neither side scored in the second half as the match finished 1-1.
O'Rourke scored and led RSU with five shots, putting two on goal.
Jamie Kennedy recorded an assist and added one shot. Miller played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with four saves.
RSU will return to action at home against Southern Nazarene next Thursday at 7 p.m.
