Loras outshines Dominican en route to a thrilling victory in the Rock Bowl
For the second year in a row, the Duhawks came out flying and perched on the Stars from the very start. In 2010, it was seniors Chris Comstock and Donald St. George who put the Duhawks out front. Now in 2012, junior Kevin Cavers and Joiner would provide the 1-2 punch for Loras with goals in the 5th minute and 11th minute.
The next 17 minutes would consist largely of a Dominican pressing attack which would eventually lead to their first goal of the match in the 28th minute. Montoya, the senior from Blue Island, IL, slotted home a loose ball inside the 18 following a Dominican throw-in.
"I was a little disappointed in us for not taking care of that, we knew that set plays are their deal," Rothert said, "At the end of the day we gotta clean some things up and I told the guys afterwards, enjoy the win, but there's a few things we need to fix."
Joiner would give the Duhawks the two goal lead once more after he banged home a rebound from a hard shot off the foot of senior Malcolm Calbert. Dominican would fire back and make the game close later in the second half.
"I didn't expect it to pop up like that. I just had that killer instinct to get it in the back of the net when the time is needed," Joiner said.
Senior David Aranda, who played a solid night on defense for the Stars, was able to put his head on a free kick taken by junior Enzo Berrini, beating junior Dylan Milkent near post. The final 35 minutes consisted largely of both teams trading scoring opportunities and hard physical play, but Loras was able to preserve the one goal lead for the victory.
The win moves Loras to 15-1-1 overall with the victory, who will travel to Indianola on Saturday to take on the Simpson College Storm. The Duhawks will wrap up the 2012 regular season next Wednesday night for the Dubuque Derby against the University of Dubuque Spartans.
