ROCKFORD, Ill. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College men's soccer team came up empty in its final regular-season road contest Saturday, falling 5-0 to host Rock Valley College. The loss dropped the Stormers to 0-10-1 on the season and marked the third time in 11 matches they've been held scoreless.

"I'm proud of the fight our team showed in our final road match of the regular season," MATC head coach Aron "Buddy" Gentry said. "Down a player early, we held strong and kept it 1-0 at the half, battling to the final whistle. Credit to Rock Valley for the win — a hard-fought match all around."

The opening half was tightly contested, with Rock Valley breaking through at the 22:53 mark on an unassisted goal to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. MATC was outmatched in set pieces and shot creation, trailing 5-2 in corner kicks and 10-2 in first-half shot attempts.

The second half unraveled quickly for the Stormers. The Golden Eagles poured in four more unanswered goals, including two in a 10-minute stretch between the 57th and 67th minutes. Rock Valley's Reese Schlichting capped the scoring with his third goal of the match — and second unassisted — in the 81st minute to complete the hat trick and seal the 5-0 result.

MATC's lone shot on goal came from Roberto Valdivia. Goalkeeper Sam Kulibert recorded four saves on seven shots faced, while teammate Maxwell Clarksen added four saves on six shots during his 25 minutes in net.

UP NEXT
MATC (0-10-1) will close out its regular season Wednesday with a home matchup against Madison College. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.