BILLINGS, Mont. – In its first full match of the fall 2016 season, the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team dropped an evenly-contested cross-town battle with Rocky Mountain College 1-0 on Chasen Lasure's goal in the 72nd minute Friday evening at Yellowjacket Field.
 
The teams played evenly from start-to-finish, each notching a dozen shots in the non-counting exhibition contest. Lasure nearly put the visiting team ahead in the 24th minute, but his header attempt glanced off of the crossbar. He settled for the lone goal of the match late in the second half, as he beat a pair of 'Jacket defenders down the right side and lofted a bouncing shot over charging MSUB keeper Joe Scott and into the back of the net.
 
"This first game was a good learning opportunity for us, and we will be able to take some positives and negatives out of it," said Yellowjacket head coach Alex Balog. "This was a good chance for us to try out a system and mix in our new players."
 
The Yellowjackets didn't go without chances, the best of which came during a flurry of attempts midway through the second. Thiago Novis lined up a free kick from just outside of the box on the right side in the 67th minute, but his curling shot around the wall was denied by a fully-extended Cole Catlin at the near post.
 
Freshman JD Hauenstein had his best look of the game on the ensuing corner kick, as it took another save from Catlin from close range to prevent the first goal of the match. Julien Dragomir capped off the

run three minutes later, pushing one of his game-high four shots just wide of the left post after a streaking run into the box.
 
Though Catlin's heroics preserved the clean sheet for RMC, they did not come before Scott made a similarly impressive showing on the other end of the pitch. Just six minutes into the second half, RMC's Tiago Ewald required a diving stop out of Scott on a close-range shot. The deflection kicked out to Emmett Zavitz, who again provoked a quick reaction save from Scott as the Bears narrowly missed out on a pair of chances.
 
The 'Jackets earned six corner kicks in the match – all taken by junior Flavio Colasanti – but only two crosses resulted directly in shots.

In a match that was heavily contested physically, reigning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year Ricardo Palomino contributed one shot in 40 minutes off of the bench. Junior captain Rhys Lambert fired two shots in 54 minutes, and Hauenstein was the other Yellowjacket with multiple shots as he had two in 70 minutes.
 
Freshmen Callan Martin and Chad Triplett split defensive duties for the majority of each half, both contributing in their first appearances as collegiate players.
 
"We matched Rocky's physicality very well, but we need to work on cherishing the ball and possession a little bit more," Balog commented. "Some of our freshmen and newcomers played very well, and I'm proud of Callan and Chad coming in and playing almost a full half on the back line. Victor Sanchez, Alexis Chavez, and Aidan Raj each gave us a good shift as well, and it is very apparent that Oliver Posarelli is going to be a fixture on our back line."
 
Posarelli, a freshman from Verona, Italy, started the game at center back with the captain's band on and turned in 36 minutes in his collegiate debut.
 
Lasure matched Dragomir's shot total of four, and Ewald put 2 of 3 shots on frame for the Bears. Scott made three saves for MSUB – the same number he managed during his dramatic penalty-kick shootout heroics when the teams met in the opening game of the Spring 2016 season.
 
THE BUZZ: Hauenstein was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…RMC snapped a two-match exhibition losing streak to the 'Jackets, as the Bears dropped both spring contests between the teams…RMC was picked eighth in the NAIA preseason national poll, while MSUB was selected to finish third in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll.
 
COMING UP: The 'Jackets head to Helena, Mont., on Monday for another exhibition against in-state opponent Carroll College. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., in the second of three preseason exhibition contests for the 'Jackets.