HELENA, Mont. -  Carroll College men's soccer rebounded from a devastating loss to UGF and did something that nobody has done this season, shut out Evergreen State, en route to 2-0 win over the Geoducks Friday evening at Nelson Stadium.
 
Senior captain Jacob Groh scored both goals to lead his team to the win while the Saints outshot Evergreen 8-4.
 
"It was a gut-check," head coach Doug Mello said. "We knew, having given up that game last week with UGF, if we ever fell back into that situation, we had to manage time a bit better, we had to be a bit more aggressive, and we did.
 
"Everyone's been very positive -- friends, family, players – saying, 'We're going to learn from this. We're a young team.' And I knew that, too. But in the very next game, almost the same circumstances, and we see it through."
 
Like the UGF game, Carroll took a lead early in the match, in the 19th minute Alessio Georgiadas sent the ball to Jonathon Taylor on a short corner. Taylor sent a cross to the Groh who buried the ball into the net with the header.
 
Just nine minutes into the second half, Georgiades sent in another corner kick to the goal but was deflected back toward the sideline. Geogiades again centered the ball and Groh elevated above the crowd and headed the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goal. The goals were the first of the season for Groh who will miss Saturday's match because of ROTC training.
 
"They were a very patient team. But that played into our backyard a little bit, because we didn't jump into the challenge," Mello said. "So they didn't have a lot of places to go. Even though they could control the ball and knock it around nicely. And then when they did shoot, kudos to our defenders and our midfield, because a lot of those balls never made it to Cojo (Conor Smith), because we blocked them. And that's another good trait to have come together for us."
 
The win moved the Saints to 4-3-1 and into ninth place in the Cascade Conference standings. The Saints face Northwest Saturday who is currently tied for third in the standings with Evergreen. The match will also be the first senior day in Saints men's soccer history, honoring the lone senior, Smith.
The match takes place at 30 minutes after the women's match ends. The senior day activities will take place 15 minutes before first kick.