Spring Break
Kangaroos pummel Mastodons, 4-0
David Cordill
Issue date: 9/29/08 Section: Sports
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The Kangaroos opened their Summit League conference schedule by burying the Mastodons of University of Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) 4-0.
The win marked the largest margin of victory for the Kangaroos since 2004, when they blanked Centenary University by an identical 4-0 scoresheet.
The sluggish Mastodons were no match for a UMKC team on the rebound. Coming off of two bitter defeats to Gonzaga and Oregon State last week, the ill-humored Roos made it very clear which squad was superior on the day.
Offensively, the Kangaroos (3-3-2; 1-0 Summit League) kept the Mastodons on their collective heels by maintaining ball possession and directing effective ball feeds through the midfielders and behind the defenders.
On defense, UMKC appeared focused and they finished the match unscathed.
That says a lot for a team that was burned for eight goals over their previous two outings.
Their cohesiveness was explained by UMKC sophomore defender Chris Markey, who played the full 90 for the Roos.
Markey said his team stayed organized defensively by talking to each other on the field and "keeping everyone accounted for."
"We've been letting too many goals in lately," he said. "This shutout is big. After that 5-1 loss [Sept. 21 to Oregon State], it's great to come out and dominate a team."
Impressed with the Kangaroo's complete effort, Head Coach Rick Benben was hesitant to single out any individual performance, but stressed the united effort instead.
"These conference games are like two games in one," Benben said. "There is a lot of pressure. We had a great team concept going in both directions. I think our overall play was excellent. I couldn't be more pleased."
Neither squad mounted a serious threat early on, although UMKC definitely controlled the tempo.
The Roos were able to open up a clear advantage in the 27th minute, after senior forward Brian Harris was tackled in the penalty area by IPFW sophomore defender Raphael Martinez.
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