HELENA, Mont. – Before Wednesday's home opening men's soccer match an assistant coach turned to freshman forward Jose Porras and said "Go score a hat trick," Porras heeded the advice and scored three goals to lead Carroll to a 4-1 victory over the University of Lethbridge at Nelson Stadium.
 
Porras got his start in just the eighth minute when Isaac Bostrom found him all alone to left of the goal. He sent the ball across the face of the goalkeeper to score his first of the game.
 
Lethbridge tied the game at 1-1 with a goal in the 21st minute and had a chance for a go-ahead goal with a penalty kick in the 31st minute but Saints goalkeeper Conor Smith made the save to preserve the draw for the time being.
 
"That save was huge for us," head coach Doug Mello said. "We started off so well and then kind of got lost. Lethbridge took advantage of it and got us even more back on our heels. We were looking at going down 2-1 and 'Cojo' (Smith) came up huge and made the save to keep it at 1-1. It really lit a fire under our guys."
 
The Saints once again attacked and just a few minutes later it paid off when Porras was fouled in the box.
 
He took advantage of his of PK opportunity and drove the ball past the fingertips of the Pronghorn goalkeeper in the 37th minute to give the Saints a 2-1 lead into halftime.
 
Porras completed his hat trick in the 77th minute with a goal from right in front of the keeper. It was the fourth of the season for the freshman from Guatemala, good enough to move him into the No. 2 spot in the NAIA.
 
"Jose Porras could have 30 goals this year," Mello said. "That is how dangerous he is and what kind of sense he has for the game and what is happening on the field. He is a special talent and he is going to do some amazing things here."
 
Porras' goal scoring ability is also going to help his teammates be more aggressive Mello said.
 
"He isn't a secret anymore," Mello said. "The attention that he is going to garner from the defenses of other teams is going to free up the rest of our offense."
 
The Saints added an insurance goal in the 85th minute when Jake Gilberston received a pass directly in front the goal and sent the pall past his defender and the keeper for his first goal of the season.
 
The defensive had another strong showing led by freshmen James Lamont and Jonathon Taylor.
 
"Our defense as a whole did a really great job keeping a very aggressive and physical team to just one goal," Mello said. "Jonathon and James were stellar against some very good players and Jose Mena was great, he showed his speed and kept the ball moving forward."
 
 
The Saints move to 2-1-0 on the season and have a 15-day break before facing MSU Billing on Sept. 11. Mello isn't necessarily excited about the break with the level his team is playing at but will take advantage of it nonetheless.
 
"With the way we are playing it is unfortunate that we have two weeks off," Mello said. "But the guys are motivated to get better and it is a great opportunity to get better. We are going to work on free kicks and our fitness level a bit more. It is also a great opportunity to work on our team chemistry a bit and build a strong team mentality."