Lakers Recover To Take Down Fighting Bees

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Roosevelt did not let an early goal against deter it as the Lakers cruised to a 3-1 win over St. Ambrose on Tuesday night at Morris Field in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

The Fighting Bees opened the scoring in the 10^th minute, but that was really the last time they had much control over the match. After conceding, the Lakers' possession-based style began to take hold and the waves of pressure began to enter the St. Ambrose half of the field. Within 10 minutes, Roosevelt put four shots on target and won three of its four corner kicks in the half.

The breakthrough finally came in the 33^rd minute when Eduardo Hernandez pounced on a headed pass from Oskar Schuster and calmly put it into the net. The senior wasn't done for the half either, thanks to a heads-up play from Gabriel Koenig. The defender noticed the St. Ambrose backline playing aggressively, and he drove a long pass more than 60 yards in the air for Hernandez to run onto. All Hernandez had to do was lob it over the goalkeeper to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Roosevelt outshot St. Ambrose 13-5 in the first half and forced five saves from the Fighting Bees goalie in the opening 45 minutes. It was even more lopsided in the second half as the Lakers held a 9-1 advantage in shots and St. Ambrose had to make three more saves. Eric Carvajal made two saves to earn his fourth win of the season with his first save coming five minutes into the match with a point-blank stop.

In the 66^th minute, Roosevelt struck again with Hernandez being inches away from his hat trick. Davide Comai took a feed on the wing and sent in a fantastic cross that nearly found Hernandez's head at the back post. Instead, it was Jose Rivera to clean up the loose ball for his first goal of the season while making his first appearance of the season as well.

The Lakers look to continue their climb up the CCAC standings with a primetime matchup Saturday against St. Francis at 7:30 p.m. in Joliet.