Rio men blank Bulldogs in home opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Rafael Kawata scored one goal and assisted on another as the University of Rio Grande rolled to a 4-0 win over Tennessee Wesleyan University, Friday night, in non-conference men's soccer action at Evan E. Davis Field.
     The RedStorm, ranked No. 3 in NAIA preseason coaches' Top 25, improved to 1-0-1 in their home debut.
     The visiting Bulldogs dropped to 0-2-1 with the loss.
     Sophomore Altan Sayar (Kreuzlingen, Switzerland) scored what proved to be the only goal that Rio would need with an unassisted marker with 24:31 remaining in the first half.
     Kawata, a freshman from Sao Paulo, Brazil, tacked on his goal - also unassisted - just over seven minutes later to give the RedStorm a 2-0 cushion at the intermission.
     The lead grew to 3-0 just under six minutes into the second half when senior Vilius Labutis (Dublin, Ireland) took a pass from junior Scott Gray (Strathaven, Scotland) a blistered a shot that ticked off the crossbar and over the head of Wesleyan net-minder Michael Garrihy.
     Rio Grande set the final score with 3:51 left to play when Kawata got the assist on a goal by senior Benjamin Cam Orellana (Santiago, Chile).
     The RedStorm dominated the contest from the outset, piling up a 25-9 advantage in shots and a 10-1 edge in shots on frame. Rio also had eight of the 10 corner kick opportunities in the contest.
     Graduate senior Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil) had one save in a clean sheet effort for the RedStorm.
     Garrihy recorded six saves in a losing cause for Tennessee Wesleyan.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday night when it hosts Bluefield (Va.) University for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The match was originally scheduled for last Tuesday, but was pushed back one week due to COVID-related issues with the Rams.