Men's Soccer Cruises To Its First Win Against Rockford

LOVES PARK, Ill.—The Fontbonne University men's soccer team started off its 2017 campaign on the right foot with a 3-1 win over Rockford. The victory is also Coach Donnie Alberty's first at the helm of the Griffins.

"We started out well but we need to do a little work to create more space," said Alberty. "We stayed very composed and did a very good job of remembering what we were there for. Also, Brendan Kopff played outstanding."

The Griffins owned a shot advantage of 16-10 on the afternoon. Alex Phillips, David Keeven and Nick Wolf all netted there first goals on the year, while Kopff concluded with two assists. Tony Pitaro, meanwhile, made three saves in net for the win.

It didn't take long for Fontbonne to get on the board first as at the 2:21 mark Kopff found Phillips who buried his attempt into the back of the net, giving them a 1-0 lead.

That score remained the same up until the 23^rd minute when Omar Rivas' shot for Rockford when off the post, but Bailey Beard was there to head it in tying the game up at 1-1.

From there the Griffins took over outshooting Rockford 3-0 before they regained the lead. In the 36^th minute, Kopff again tapped the ball forward for Keeven and he buried his shot past RU's goalie, Eric Muniz, to put them back out in front at 2-1 going into the half.

The offensive pressure FBU concluded with carried over into the final frame. At the 49:54 mark, Phillips was able to assist on Wolf's first goal of the season, giving the Griffins more breathing room at 3-1.

Fontbonne outshot Rockford 6-4 the rest of the way, and with both the defense and Pitaro standing tall in net the Griffins held on for the two goal win.

The team will return to action tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m., against Dominican. Kick-off is set for 12 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com for a full recap and score.