MEN’S SOCCER

The HU men’s soccer team came out firing on all cylinders against Goshen on their way to a 3-0 shutout on opening day of Crossroads League play.

The Foresters were dangerous from opening kick, generating four shots in the opening four minutes. To no one’s surprise at King Stadium, the hosts had their first goal of the evening by the 6:43 mark when Joao Ratinho sizzled back netting after collecting a lofted pass from Sam Dolobaipu.

Ratinho returned the favor four minutes later when he found Dolobaipu just outside the box. The 6-3 forward maneuvered past a defender and then sent a scorcher just over the outstretched hands of the Goshen keeper to make it 2-0.

Huntington stayed on the attack the rest of the frame, logging a total of 12 shots in the opening 45 minutes while holding their visitors shotless to carry their two-goal advantage into the break.

HU’s third goal was a testament to their unselfish play. It was a give and go five minutes into the second period. After Abraham Abdoul Kadri played a ball to Dolobaipu on a breakaway, the 6-3 forward had only the keeper to beat for an easy score but instead played the ball right back to Kadri for an even easier tap-in.

Dolobaipu leads HU with nine goals and five assists. Ratinho and Kadri have three assists each and four and three goals respectively. The trio has combined to score 16 of their team’s 26 goals this season.

While Goshen turned up the heat in the second period as evidenced by outshooting Huntington 9-4, they were never able to crack Coach Potter’s defensive crew. Dan Pellegrine was awarded the shutout in net. The senior keeper finished with five saves. The Foresters have enjoyed five clean sheets so far this fall.

With this win, HU improves to 7-2-1 overall, 1-0 in CL action. Huntington has a tall order on Saturday when they take on #3 Bethel at 7:00 p.m. at Morey Field.