Ohio Valley University surged past the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) men's soccer team in a 4-0 victory during Thursday's season opener at Kiwanis Stadium.
 
"It was disappointing," UIS coach Adam Hall said. "We got punished on some sloppy mistakes."
 
Ohio Valley (1-0) entered the match ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) NCAA Division II preseason poll.
 
The Prairie Stars (0-1) had the opportunity to take the lead 10 minutes into the match. UIS managed to catch Ohio Valley's goalkeeper out of position. Mario Falsone sent a pass to Mario Gonzalez. Gonzalez fired the shot, but it hit the crossbar.
 
"I thought we started brightly and were unlucky to not score when Mario [Gonzalez] hit the crossbar."
 
Two minutes later, the Prairie Stars had another close scoring opportunity.
 
Ohio Valley took the lead during the 23rd minute. Alexandro Horveno delivered a free kick from 25 yards out and Jorge Pradillos provided a touch in front of the goal to give the Fighting Scots a 1-0 lead. Horveno was credited with the assist.
 
It only took Ohio Valley 49 seconds to score again. During the 24th minute, Nemanja Acimovic produced a shot from about 22 yards. UIS came up with the save, but Juan Hoyos delivered a goal off the rebound. Acimovic earned the assist.
 
Pradillos scored his second goal of the match during the 68th minute. Shortly following a corner kick, Horveno sent a pass into the box. Pradillos received a header deflection and sent a header in for a score.
 
Miguel Sarmiento delivered a distance shot by the sideline but UIS came up with the save.
 
Ohio Valley benefitted on an own goal 81 minutes into the match.
 
Rhy Wallace has UIS's only shot on goal. Also turning in shots for the Prairie Stars were Gonzalez, Dan Mahoney, Milla and Adrian Ortega.
 
Pijus Petkevicius saw six shots and collected two saves.
 
Ohio Valley's Jorge Arenas recorded a shutout and saved the only shot he faced.
 
Shot numbers for both teams were low as Ohio Valley outshot UIS by a 7-5 margin.
 
"We need to stick together. We were outshot 7-5 and lost 4-0, so it's a wake up for the team. Hopefully, we can bounce back and get our season on track."
 
UIS squares off with Tiffin University (1-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Kiwanis Stadium.