OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City men's soccer team stay on the winning side as Marco Alongi leads OCU to a 3-2 win over Science & Arts with a hat trick.

Score   

Oklahoma City 3, Science & Arts 2 

• Oklahoma City (6-3-1, 3-0 SAC)     
• Science & Arts (4-5-3, 0-2-1 SAC) 

Scoring Summary      

47' | Marco Alongi (3) | Oklahoma City 1, Science & Arts 0  

49' | Marco Alongi (4) | Oklahoma City 2, Science & Arts 0  

65' | Justin Croke (6) | Oklahoma City 2, Science & Arts 1 

68' | Marco Alongi (5); Assisted by Aiden Mieger | Oklahoma City 3, Science & Arts 1 

78' | Zane Zhidov (2); Assisted by Jin Ogawa | Oklahoma City 3, Science & Arts 2 

First Half     

Entering the contest OCU came in looking to stay unbeaten in conference play while USAO was trying to pick up its first win since Sept. 9. USAO had a busy start on the offensive side with five shots coming in the first 20 minutes with only one coming on goal that was saved by Danilo Vilani. OCU got off four shots in the full forty-five minutes with the closest shot hitting the crossbar from Keita Kishino. Neither side found the net in the first half, sending the match into halftime with no score.  

Second Half 

After not scoring in the first half of play it only took two minutes for the Stars to make their mark in the second half. Marco Alongi got Oklahoma City on the board first after missing his first attempt off the post then rebounding it and sinking it in to put the Stars up 1-nil. Two minutes later OCU struck again with Alongi getting out on the break and launching a shot from outside of the box over the hand of the keep and into the net for Alongi's second goal of the night putting the Stars up 2-0. In the 65th minute, USAO cut the lead to one as Justin Croke knocked in his sixth goal of the season to give the Drovers some life. Three minutes later it was Alongi yet again securing his hat trick as Aiden Mieger assisted Alongi on the goal inside the six-yard box to give OCU a 3-1 lead. With 12 minutes to play Science & Arts refused to go away as Zane Zhidov scored the Drovers second goal of the night to bring the OCU lead back down to just one. USAO had a couple more chances to score but only one shot on goal came as Vilani picked up the final save of the night as time dripped away and eventually expired to give Oklahoma City its second straight win. 

GAME NOTES 

• Oklahoma City took 12 shots in the match with six coming on goal. 
• Science & Arts held the advantage in shots taken with 18 while having seven on-goal attempts. 
• Marco Alongi notched a hat trick with all three goals coming in the second half. Alongi's hat trick was the second one the Stars have seen this season as David Imbert solidified the first coming on Aug. 30 against Bethany College.  
• Alongi's three goals now put him in a four-way tie for the team lead with David Imbert, Bernardo Duarte, and Jordan Da Costa. 
• Graduate senior Danilo Vilani picked up five saves while allowing two goals. The five saves were the third-most Vilani has secured this season.  
• The OCU win snaps a four-game losing streak to the Drovers as the Stars earn their first win since Mar. 27, 2021. 
• The three goals were the most OCU has scored on Science & Arts since 2018 as the all-time series record moves to 10-14-1 in favor of USAO. 

NEXT GAME 

The Oklahoma City men's soccer team will stay on the road as the Stars make the trip to McPherson, Kan with a matchup against Central Christian on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 PM.