Lakers Ease Past Saints Behind Two Rubio Goals

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Roosevelt was rarely troubled as it won its second straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference game with a 2-0 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday at Morris Field.

It took a little bit for the Lakers (3-3-1, 2-0-0 CCAC) to find their rhythm, but once they opened the scoring in the second half, the outcome was rarely in doubt. Roosevelt created the most dangerous opportunities in the first half and led the Saints 6-2 in shot attempts, but none of them even reached the goal. The Lakers put half of their 10 shot attempts on goal in the second half as the pressure finally resulted in openings in the Saints defense.

Valerio Joos nearly opened the scoring in the 72^nd minute with a free kick that evaded the goalkeeper but rang off the post. Fortunately, Alan Rubio was in the right spot to claim the rebound and score the game's first goal. About 10 minutes later, Rubio and Oskar Schuster executed a give-and-go and Rubio left no doubt with a thunderous strike that effectively sealed the deal with less than eight minutes left.

Eric Carvajal was active in protecting the Lakers' penalty area, intercepting crosses and poor passes to help start the attack for Roosevelt. He was credited with only one save, but it was a massive one as he dove to his right to deny the Saints from close range in the 55^th minute. The strong central defending pair of Gabriel Koenig and Tomas Quintana did the rest of the work in front of Carvajal, forcing long-distance efforts that floated harmlessly above the goal or well wide of the target.

Roosevelt had a few more offensive chances as well in the second half and were far more successful than Holy Cross at finding openings in the middle of the field. Ryusei Ogawa had an early chance stopped in the second half and Sebastian Rodriguez just missed on an attempt midway through the second half that could have opened the scoring. Rubio was also denied on a great chance in front of goal less than two minutes before scoring his second goal of the day.

The Lakers will look to stay unbeaten in conference play Tuesday night when they welcome Saint Xavier to Morris Field for a 7 p.m. start.