RedStorm rallies, advances to national quarterfinals

Rio Grande/NAIA Sports Information
     DECATUR, Ala. - Odds are, if you asked anyone involved with Rio Grande men's soccer, they'd all tell you that their Silva came up gold.
     Gabriel Silva scored two goals and assisted on two others as the 20th-ranked and ninth-seeded RedStorm knocked off William Carey (Miss.), 4-2, in the Round of 16 at the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship, Tuesday afternoon, at the Jack Allen Soccer Complex.
     Rio Grande upped its record to 17-3-2 with the victory and advances to Thursday's quarterfinals where they'll face top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Mid-American Christian (Okla.).
     William Carey, which was ranked 10th and seeded ninth, finished its season at 13-3-3.
     The Crusaders grabbed a 1-0 lead just 4:06 into the contest, thanks to a goal by Sacha Vandersteene off of a pass by Juan Ruiz Cabello.
     Rio Grande responded with all four of its goals before halftime and never looked back.
     Silva, a sophomore from Sao Luis, Brazil, crossed the ball from the left wing to the car side of the box, which freshman Altan Sayar (Switzerland) proceeded to bury in the back of the net for the equalizer just over 9-1/2 minutes later.
     Silva then gave the RedStorm the lead for good with 14:07 remaining before the break, taking the ball in the box on a pass from junior Benjamin Cam Orellana (Santiago, Chile), pirouetting, and then flicking the ball into the goal as he was falling to the turf.
     Silva had the assist on a goal by junior Vilius Labutis (Ireland) with 4:27 left in the first half and then scored his second goal of the day - thanks to an assist by junior Osvaldo Pereria (Campo Grande, Brazil) just under two minutes later.
     "To give up a goal four minutes into the game and then respond by immediately going down the field and creating chance after chance said everything to me," said Rio Grande head coach Scott Morrissey. "Once we got the equalizer, I felt we could get more. And we did. Obviously, Gabriel scored goals and sets up others, but every player who stepped out there made a massive impact over the final 40 minutes of the first half. I can't say enough about them."
     William Carey outshot the RedStorm in the second half, 16-2, and enjoyed a 26-20 advantage in overall shots for the game.
     And despite also having a 12-7 edge in shots on frame and a 14-2 cushion in corner kick chances, the Crusaders managed only one goal the rest of the way - a marker by Djordje Djukovic via a touch by Alessandro Villarrea with 21:39 left to play which set the final score.
     Senior keeper Daniel Merino Correa (Madrid, Spain) had a career-high 10 saves in the win for Rio Grande.
     Andreas Kokoska had three saves in a losing cause for William Carey.
     "The recovery process is so important now as we prepare for Thursday," Morrissey said.