CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State men's soccer (1-0) got the season started on the right foot as they battled to a 4-2 victory of Eastern New Mexico (0-1) on Thursday.
 
Three different Hillcats found their way onto the score sheet on the night. Josh Milla, D'Waylan McIntosh and Grant King all scored in the win, with King, Sebastian Hernandez and Hugo Martin all earning assists. Declan Viljoen had a strong showing in goal to start the year as he only allowed two goals with nine saves.
 
Both teams spent the early goings of the game feeling each other out, with the Greyhounds playing in their first match since the end of the 2019 season. From there, things devolved into a defensive struggle with both teams playing fast but were cutoff on most offensive chances by the respective backline of the opponent. However, RSU took advantage of a critical mistake by the Greyhounds to go up 1-0 on an own goal in front of the net in the 42nd minute.
 
Both teams kept the hard-hitting intensity up to begin the second half. ENMU fired in the equalizer in the 52nd minute to knot things at 1-1. However, the Hillcats marched right down to the other end of the field to retake the lead 2-1 in the 53rd minute on a well-placed shot from Josh Milla off a pass from Sebastian Hernanadez. RSU began to break down the Greyhound defense as D'Waylan McIntosh found the back of the net on a pass from Grant King in the 63rd minute to extend the lead to 3-1. King himself would take advantage of an offensive opportunity as he found pay dirt in the 82nd minute with an assist from Hugo Martin to go up 4-1. Even though they were running out of time and facing a stout deficit, ENMU refused to give up and managed to score one final goal in the 83rd minute to end the game 4-2.
 
This was an extremely physical match to start off the year as the officials doled out seven yellow cards during the 90 minutes.
 
The Hillcats will be back in action on Sunday, August 28 as they take their first road trip of the season to Rolla, Mo. to face off against Missouri S&T. Kickoff is slated from 2:30 p.m.