DALLAS, Tex. – The defending College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champions opened their 2017 title defense in impressive fashion on Friday as the Carthage College Red Men topped Dallas Christian College, 7-1.
 
The win moves the Red Men to 1-0 for the second-straight year, while DCC falls to 0-1 on the season.

Carthage was able to schedule the game with Dallas Christian after relocating from Houston due to Hurricane Harvey, which cancelled the scheduled game against the University of St. Thomas.

"With having to relocate from Houston to Dallas for our annual preseason trip we really were fortunate with all the schools and programs which help us in real-time," said head coach Steve Domin following the win.  "A special thank you to the FC Dallas Academy, Southern Methodist University, Richland College, and particularly Dallas Christian for fitting us in so we didn't lose a match or training sessions."
 
"In a lot of ways this trip turned out way better than expected.   We were nervous we were going to lose all the opportunities and training to Hurricane Harvey but uniquely ended up being a challenging bonding experience with relocating midstream.  Dallas turned out to be a solid soccer experience with lots to do.  And we are still going!"

Sophomore Freddy Martinez had an impressive season debut for the Red Men as he tallied a goal in the seventh minute to open scoring and added his second in the 32nd minute to give the Red Men a 3-0 advantage.  Martinez also added three assists, which ties for second most in a game in program history, and becoming the first to have three assists since Sean Stefanski in 2009.  Freddy's seven points are also the third most by a Red Men in program history.
 
Kevin Reilly scored twice in his Carthage debut, including the eventual game-winner in the 15th minute, followed by his second in the 65th minute.
 
Also tallying goals for the Red Men in the rout were Jamie Tausend in the 32nd minute, Alberto Eloyza in the 76th minute and Richard Flores in the 86th minute as he too was making his Carthage debut.
 
Ivan Esquivel added a pair of assists and Erik Boese had one to round out the stat line.

"Freddy Martinez, Kevin Reilly and Ivan Esquivel proved their importance and the Texas heat didn't stop them."  Domin added, "Jamie Tausend and Matt Rojel stamped out performances which reassured us why they are among the country's top defenders."
 
Returning from injury, goalkeeper Niko Mavrogiannis earned the victory between the pipes, as Niko recorded one save in 90:00 of work.

"Today we were a touch behind not having fresh legs coming off a powerful scrimmage with one of the nation's strongest D.A. teams in FC Dallas yesterday."  The head coach added, "Only being able to play 11's a couple times before playing outside competition has taken a toll on fitness and space but we responded fairly well.  Everyone had a part"
 
Next up for the Red Men, Carthage will return to Kenosha for their first game on the new Art Keller Field on Tuesday, September 5th, as Carthage hosts Kalamazoo College at 5:00 p.m.