The Carthage College men's soccer team (2-1-0, 0-0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened at home on Wednesday night, Sept. 4 with a 3-1 win over Benedictine University (Ill., 1-1-0) at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis.

Carthage took a 1-0 lead at 29:11 first period on a goal by Michael Dombrowski (Jr., Johnsburg, Ill.), assisted by Zack Cemail and Taylor Pignataro. Dombrowski scored again at 35:13, his fifth goal of the season, all in the last two games, this time assisted by Mike Heika. The Red Men made it a 3-0 contest at 53:54 second half when Alexander Marquis (Jr., Caracas, Venezuela) scored, assisted by Arnoldo Reyes. The Eagles got on the board at 65:59 on a penalty-kick goal by Edgar Reyes.

"Tonight was a tale of two halves," said Carthage coach Steve Domin. "We stuck to a plan in the first half and moved the ball from left to right well, but frankly did not frame the goal the way we can. Give Benedictine some credit, as they are much improved. They applied some pressure when we were careless with the ball. We were able to play our depth all the way out in the second period, which is always nice. However, we are going to have to be much cleaner to play well against the teams in Portland this weekend. We are still trying to find what rotations work, but anytime you score more goals than your opponent, it's a good day."

This weekend, the Red Men fly off for another West Coast tournament, journeying to Salem, Ore., to play in the Willamette University "Northwestern Valley Classic" at McCullough Stadium. The Red Men take on the host-Bearcats (2-0-0) on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 12:30 p.m., PST, and Whitman College on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 10 a.m., PST. Willamette is ranked seventh in the Sept. 3 National Soccer Coaches Association of America West Region poll.