by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College got its first men’s Jayhawk Conference soccer win on the road Saturday.
Tied 1-1 at halftime at Allen County, the Blue Devils exploded for four second goals for a 5-2 win. The win was the third in four starts for the Blue Devils, who are right back in conference action at Cowley College Tuesday at 7 p.m.
KCKCC broke the 1-1 deadlock with a pair of goals by sophomore Leonardo Da Silva.
Both came on penalty kicks, the first five minutes into the second half and the second 11 minutes later.
Freshman Reed Axthelm made it 4-1 with a goal four minutes later on a pass from freshman Gustavo Palmeiri and freshman Frano Buhovar closed out the scoring on an assist from sophomore Fernando Garella with three minutes remaining.
The Blue Devils overcame an early 1-0 deficit.
Allen County jumped in front just 3:50 into the game on a Wilmer Canales goal and it stayed 1-0 until the 35th minute when KCKCC tied it on a goal by freshman Hector Valles on a pass from Piper freshman Jackson Jones.
While the Blue Devils trailed early, they dominated the contest, peppering Allen County goalkeeper Alan Ibarra with 20 shots including 15 on goal.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils managed only five shots on goal against KCKCC goalkeeper Youssef Gadelkerim.
“A good performance after losing our conference opener,” KCKCC coach Ruben Rodriguez said. “We were very happy with the way we controlled the pace of the game and the play of Leo Da Silva, who has been outstanding. It’s always good when you can get a conference win on the road. Tuesday’s game at Cowley is going to be a big test for us. We need to steadily improve.”