HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College men's soccer team hosts 10th-ranked Rocky Mountain and College of Idaho Sunday in a pair of Cascade Conference matches at Nelson Stadium.
The Saints are 5-4 overall and 3-3 in Cascade play after picking up a 2-1 overtime win over Warner Pacific.
The Saints take a step up in competition Friday when they host the Battlin' Bears at Nelson Stadium.
The Bears are 8-1 overall, and 4-1 in Cascade play with the lone loss coming against Southern Oregon.
In the first three seasons in program history, the Saints have yet to defeat Rocky, and Friday will be a tall task.
"They have had our number, we've come close," head coach
Doug Mello said. "We've lost a number of one-goal games against them. We have a very talented squad that hasn't been firing on all cylinders, and we hope our home crowd will help us get back on track."
The Saints are without leading scorer
Rodrigo Portillo who was injured in the second half of the Corban game. There is also concern for
Jose Mena who is day-to-day with an illness.
"Rodrigo is out, and we've had to move things around to try to make up the difference in the lineup," Mello said. "
Jose Mena has been sick this week and is day to day. Those two are a considerable part of our offense, and we are going to need a lot of guys to step up for our offense to keep clicking.
Isaac Bostrom,
Nick Lowrimore and
Sam Malouf are going to need to step up for us."
Sunday, the Saints face a College of Idaho team that is 6-3 overall and 3-2 in conference. The Yotes' conference losses are against Southern Oregon and a 3-2 overtime loss against Rocky.
"They are always a tough opponent, they come at you hard, and they don't stop for 90 minutes," Mello said. "When they played Rocky earlier this season, they went to overtime, so they are both a very good. They hit long balls down the side, they are physical, and they try to get the ball in the box. C of I is a hard-working squad that is going to be a test for our second match."
Both games are slated for 3:30 p.m. at Nelson Stadium. Live Video will be available via the Carroll youtube channel.
