Saints Tame Lions in Home Opener

May 24th, 2015

Charlie Hatch

Leading up to the 2015 Nation Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season, Cincinnati Saints coach Dave Wall said he wanted his team to win 99.9 percent of its home matches.

Through Saturday night, it’s on track.

The Saints beat the Indiana Lions 2-1 at Withrow’s Angus King Stadium, courtesy of a brace from forward Khristian Montoya.

“We’re delighted with the win tonight,” Wall said. “We got three points. They made it difficult for us…but I thought we deserved the win.”

Montoya, who started the match as Cincinnati’s lone forward, scored in the 15th and 23rd minutes to pull the home side into the lead.

The first came from a goal line scramble, when a cross from midfielder R.J. Best was played into the area, shot by Montoya, parried by Indiana’s goalkeeper Cuauhtémoc Orozco, headed back off the bar by midfielder Mitch Deyle and Montoya headed in the third attempt. Oh, and Montoya was cleated in the face and had to receive treatment.

The second was much more nonchalant from Montoya, who doubled as a wrecking ball, blasting through a defender, rounding Orozco and firing the ball into an open net.

“He’s a magnificent player for us,” Wall said. “He’s new to the club this year. He’s got great strength and he can score goals, which is always a bonus. We’re pleased to have him and he played well for us tonight.”

Cincinnati kept its two-goal lead into the break, and controlled play throughout the first hour of the match.

Tension peaked at the hour mark when captain Kwame Sarkodie and Indiana’s Ryan Forde got into a scuffle and were both sent off.

“We were shaking hands, and the referee didn’t like the way we were shaking hands,” Sarkodie said. “So he just said go take a seat in the stands.”

Sarkodie nearly witnessed the team’s first cleansheet, but a 90th minute consolation goal from Indiana’s Mohamed Bakayoko snuck beneath an outstretched Justin Saliba.

“The win is important at home,” Saliba said. “We want to build a tradition at home, to be getting three points every time. We were disappointed with the late goal, but we’ll try to improve on that. Because if we get shutouts, we’ll have a high percent chance of getting those wins at home.”

FINAL STATS –

Cincinnati Saints 2, Indiana Lions 1

Goals – Khristian Montoya 15th, 23rd; Mohamed Bakayoko 90th

Discipline – Kwame Sarkodie and Ryan Forde (Red); Mohammad Salieh (Yellow)

Shots – Cincinnati 14, Indiana 18

Shots on target – Cincinnati 8, Indiana 5

Saves – Cincinnati 4, Indiana 6

Fouls committed – Cincinnati 6, Indiana 5

Passes – Cincinnati 233, Indiana 256

Pass completion rate – Cincinnati 78 percent, Indiana 80 percent

Starters –

Cincinnati (4-2-3-1)

Justin Saliba, Gary Henderson, Drew Midkiff, Tony Wigham, Kwame Sarkodie, Ryan Handburry, Justin Smith, Mitch Deyle, John Cottrell, RJ Best, Khristian Montoya

Indiana (3-5-2)

Cuauhtémoc Orozco, Adrian Marin, Andrew Higgins, Alexander Clark, Daniel Deblaere, Alex Sansuwangul, Ryan Forde, Victor Martinez, Antonio Ayres, Halid Apoujak, Victor Chagonda

Subs –

Cincinnati

Anton Nicklason, Kidus Tadele, Mohammad Salieh, Nathan Sexton, Joshua Henderson

Indiana

Kyle Bugay, Kristen Sulbaran, Ricardo Ruiz, Timothy Olivares, Gerardo Vasquez, Mohamed Bakayoko, Jose Ayala

The stats were collected by Eric Lockett Jr.