The St. Mary Spires were left rather low after the Columbia College men’s soccer team toppled them on Thursday.
A 3-0 win against the Spires, from Leavenworth, Kan., gave the Cougars 11 consecutive victories at Owens Soccer Stadium.
Columbia College won the battle for possession and controlled the pace of play in the first half.
The Cougars created six scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes. The closest Columbia College got to scoring in the first half was a shot from senior Ben Boehner. He managed to hit the left post of the St. Mary goal in the eighth minute.
The first goal of the game wasn’t scored until the 46th minute of the match. Boehner headed the ball into the net off assists from forward Juan Pablo Irrera and defenseman Jeff Brodie.
The goal was set up off of a Columbia College throw-in deep in St. Mary’s end. The play is one of the Cougars’ weapons when they get deep in their opponents’ half of the field.
“We got a couple throw-in set plays we do,” Boehner said. “So it’s one of those things we work on, and we feel if we have Jeff (Brodie) in the game we can be dangerous with it.”
Irrera notched the second goal for Columbia College in the 63rd minute. The goal was a result of a long run by Micah Bolton, who took the ball deep into the heart of the St. Mary defense. Bolton passed to Irrera in the box.
The third goal for the Cougars came from an unlikely source. Freshman Jimmy Stranz scored for the first time in his college career, in the 85th minute off a Sasha McMillin corner kick.
“Sasha played the corner across,” Stranz said. “It snuck through a couple legs, and I was waiting back-door and just kind of popped it in there.”
Coach John Klein said the Cougars need to improve their presence in the box.
“We need to be specific about picking out players in the box and taking it in deeper with more determination,” Klein said. “I think it is a minor problem that we need to spend some time on.”
Freshman Justin Robinson was in street clothes for the match. He is still healing from a sprained right ankle that he injured Sept. 4. against Southern Nazarene.