KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – A three goal explosion in the first 13 minutes of the second half broke open a tight match, as Oregon Tech rolled to a convincing 5-0 victory over Rocky Mountain College at the OIT Soccer Field.
 
Five different Hustlin' Owls (4-1-2, 3-1 CCC) scored on the day, with Joel Witts making four saves for his 11th career shutout win. It was the first 5-goal loss in Rocky program history, dating back to 2007.
 
"Full 90-minute performance today by the boys," said head coach Sean McManamon. "They executed the game plan, with guys who stepped in meeting the standard and raising the level of play to earn three big points. It was a full group effort to earn this win."
 
The Battlin' Bears (5-2-1, 3-1) had an 8-3 edge in total shots in the opening period – nearly taking the lead in the 20th minute. An Igor Soares 18-yard blasted was knocked away by Witts, while Niclas Bickel redirected the rebound towards the goal, only to have Dylan Nakagawa drive the ball away off the end line.
 
Tech took the lead in the 32nd minute, as Kevin Rodriguez played a pretty through-ball up the middle of the pitch to the running Andrew Pasang, who eluded keeper Stefan Schenk for the score.
 
Early in the second half – OIT kept the pressure on the RMC defense. Nakagawa touched a ball to Rosendo Juarez-Flores who converted his first goal of the year to double the lead, while in the 50th minute, Brock Rideout headed home a Logan Miller free kick to make it 3-0.
 
OIT took advantage of a red card issued on the Bears – scoring a pair of goals with the man advantage. Rideout played a cross to the rushing Miller in the 58th minute for a goal, with the senior making another great pass in the 75th minute to Ben Bradshaw. Bradshaw's initial attempted was blocked by Schenk, but the freshman collected the rebound and slotted it home.
 
The Owls finished with a 13-11 edge in total shots, with Rocky recording four of the six corner kicks.
 
Tomorrow, Tech closes out the home stand with a 2:30 p.m. match against Providence.