SSU MSOC set up for historic showdown against Rio Grande in RSC Semifinals
The men's soccer program at Shawnee State has a chance to accomplish a pair of goals that no other men's soccer team at Shawnee State has done -- defeat Rio Grande in a match and advance to a conference championship -- when the Bears take on the RedStorm Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in a River States Conference Semifinal that will be held at Evan E. Davis Field in Rio Grande.
Shawnee State (8-7-1) will look for its first win ever against Rio Grande (9-4-1) in what is most certainly the largest of stakes in the history of the Shawnee State men's soccer program.
While the Bears are 0-29-1 all-time against the RedStorm, Shawnee State has closed the gap in recent years -- as SSU battled Rio Grande to a 1-1 double overtime tie in 2021 and battled the RedStorm to scant losses of 2-1 at Shawnee Turf in 2023 and 2-0 in Rio Grande this past season.
In all, 14 different players have scored a goal for Shawnee State this season, including:
- 6-0 junior defender Nikos Pontikis (seven goals, four assists, 18 points)
- 5-10 freshman forward Cameron Thompson (five goals, 10 points)
- 5-9 senior midfielder Marco Riva (four goals, four assists, 12 points)
- 5-9 freshman forward Théo Cavaleiro Trindade (four goals, three assists, 11 points)
- 6-1 freshman defender João Coqueti Léo (four goals, assist, nine points)
- 5-10 junior forward Alfie Maynard (two goals, two assists, six points)
- 6-1 junior defender Guilherme Bitencourt (two goals, four points)
- 5-9 senior midfielder Matt Stam (two goals, four points)
- 5-9 senior midfielder Guillermo Conejo Martin (one goal, four assists, six points)
- 5-9 junior defender Clement Akanyah, 6-0 sophomore midfielder Benjamin Chandler, 5-9 junior wing Trevor Aveiro Masanjala (one goal, one assist, three points each)
- 6-3 junior defender Lars Van de Pol (one goal, two points)
- Additionally, Darian Rodrigues (three assists) and Elijah Madrigal (one assist) are among the position players who have contributed from a point total standpoint.
Between the posts, Eric Green now holds 72 saves on the year following Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Indiana-East. Green holds a 1.73 GAA for the 2024 season.
Rio Grande is led by 5-5 sophomore midfielder Rafael Kawata (seven goals, four assists, 18 points), 5-10 senior forward Joe McInnes (seven goals, assist, 15 points) and 6-0 freshman forward David Palade (six goals, two assists, 14 points). 6-0 senior goalkeeper Matheus de Campos holds 37 saves, a .725 save percentage and a goals against average mark of 1.12 to his credit.
Additional
Live video from Saturday's 1 p.m. matchup will be provided at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/rsc.