Big Day For Rams Soccer

MOBILE, Ala—Wednesday, October 3rd proved to be a productive day for the University of Mobile men’s soccer team.

The Rams jumped into the NAIA Top-10, at #8, and went on to defeat archrival Spring Hill College 5-1.

Big Game….

Mobile took a 7-game winning streak to Spring Hill, and had little trouble subduing the Badgers to move to 8-2-1 on the season. Despite being out-shot 10-0 in the first half, the Badgers were able to hold the Rams scoreless until the 30:28 mark, when Jack St. Hilaire took a feed from Thomas Wharf in the box and punched it past the Badgers’ keeper.

The score stayed the same until halftime, and then the Rams broke things open in the 2nd half thanks to some help from a familiar foot.

Leading scorer and reigning GCAC and Region XIII Player of the Week Ruben Diaz, delivered 2 goals in the 2nd half to pace the Rams surge.

Diaz, who now has 8 goals on the season, scored just minutes into the 2nd frame thanks to a run from Onesimus Ikongo. Ikongo out-raced the defense into the box, and when the ball was punched away at the last second, Diaz was waiting to blast the ball into the net.

After Matt Watts found Cateano Lima in the box for the 3rd goal of the game at the 69:02 mark, Diaz struck again, rocketing a volley from outside the box past the Badgers’ keeper for his 3rd multi-goal game of the season.

Gustavo Souza finished the scoring for the Rams when he put home a penalty kick after the Badgers fouled him in the box. The Rams finished with a 22-3 edge in shots and a 10-2 edge in shots on goal.

Mobile next plays at Tusculum College (TN) Saturday, October 6th at 8:00 pm.

Big Jump….

Before the game, Mobile found out they jumped 3 spots in the most recent NAIA Top-25, moving up from 11 to 8 with 242 votes.

The Rams find themselves right behind Lindsey Wilson, Southern Nazarene, Lee University and Indiana Wesleyan. Mobile started the season ranked, but dropped out after stumbling to a 0-2-1 start.

Then, the red-hot Rams started their current 8-game win streak and leapt all the way up to #11 after shut-out victories over Auburn-Montgomery and Cumberlands (KY).