BILLINGS, Mont. – Halil Yilmaz moved into a tie for most goals in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on Thursday at Yellowjacket Field, scoring twice in the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team's 3-0 blanking of visiting Saint Martin's University.
 
The junior striker put MSUB ahead in the sixth minute of play before adding a brace in the 73rd minute and watching senior Paul Cuevas cap the match with a score in the 90th minute. Center backs Luca Battistotti and Bryan Maxwell and outside back Pascal Pisarek each played the full 90 minutes to anchor the team's second clean sheet of the year, and Georgios Theodoulidis made four saves to pick up his second collegiate shutout. "The result last week was definitely in our minds, and we wanted to show how we can come out and play," said senior Brady Tesch, referring to last Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss at No. 16 Seattle Pacific. "Keeping a clean sheet was very important for us mentally, and we are just looking forward to playing our game going forward."

MSUB upped its record to 3-4-1 overall on the season and pulled even in early GNAC play at 1-1. SMU meanwhile slipped to 1-9 overall and started its GNAC campaign with an 0-2 record. "They were definitely looking to exploit the space behind us, and once they were forced to play long we were able to defend that 1-v-1," said Tesch, who contributed perhaps the best individual performance of his collegiate career on Thursday. "The satisfaction is there, and we really appreciate the effort from everybody on the team. It goes a long way, but again we are focusing on the next match because Saturday is coming up quick."
 
Tesch provided the assist on Yilmaz's game-winning goal, and played a key part of the back line's shutout effort with 74 strong minutes in his first start of the year. "He had a very good game," MSUB head coach Thomas Chameraud commented on Tesch's play Thursday. "He was very good defensively, and offensively, and he created danger for us in the last 30 yards. I was very happy for him."
 
After receiving the ball from the back on the right side of the pitch, Tesch's vision led him to a long through ball over the top of the SMU defense and onto the foot of Yilmaz. The striker tucked a neat finish inside the near post with his right foot past an oncoming Hunter Askland out of the SMU goal. "I was just keeping my head up, and I saw that he was running through," Tesch commented on Yilmaz's first finish. "I trusted him, he's a great goal scorer, and I just put my faith in him. He did the rest."
 
The Yellowjackets dominated the run of play in the opening 45 minutes, out-shooting the Saints 10-2, but the hosts carried just a narrow lead into the halftime break. "Up 1-0 at halftime is never really a good score, so we really needed to pay attention in the second half," Chameraud said. "They put us on our heels a little bit, but our defense and Georgios held tight in the back. Overall it was good to get a clean sheet to get our first three points, but there is still work to do for sure."
 
Theodoulidis had his first of four saves three minutes into the second half, as SMU kicked off its most productive 20-minute stretch of the game and threatened to pull even coming out of the break. Battistotti and Maxwell helped the 'Jackets get through the trying stretch of play, which saw the Saints take five of their 10 shots in the match.
 
Yilmaz's second finish came in the 73rd minute, when the Saints were dispossessed in their defensive third as Mathias Kjølner intervened and sent the ball over the top and into the box. From there, Yilmaz perfectly placed a shot with the outside of his left foot into the upper part of the net past the reach of Askland. "Ibo is a very dangerous striker, and when he gets the ball around him in the box there is a high chance it is going to be in the back of the net," Chameraud said. "We have to reward the defenders on our team as well, because during practice they make it difficult for him and try to make it as game-realistic as they can. He is a hard worker, and it paid off today."
 
The Saints didn't have any serious threats to equalize over the final 18 minutes of play, and with time running out Cuevas struck for his third goal of the year. The play was created by Jayse Judkins in the midfield, as he earned his first collegiate assist with a through ball into the box for Cuevas to run onto and punch into the lower-left corner of the net.
 
The Yellowjackets had season-highs of 21 shots and nine shots on goal in the match, with Yilmaz leading the way at seven shots and four on target. Askland helped keep the Saints in it with six key saves, but SMU managed just four shots on frame throughout the 90 minutes.
 
THE BUZZ: Tesch was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…the assist was the fifth of his career…Thursday marked Yilmaz's third multi-goal performance of the season…his eight goals in 2021 are tied with Alex Mejia of Seattle Pacific…MSUB is now 15-10-2 all-time against SMU and owns a 9-4-1 record in home matches against the Saints.
 
COMING UP: The 'Jackets are back on the pitch Saturday, with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against Northwest Nazarene University which plays at Seattle Pacific on Thursday night. Live video for Saturday's game will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.
 
"We will be watching their game tonight against Seattle Pacific and it should be a very interesting game," Chameraud commented on the Nighthawks. "One of our goals is to be undefeated at home, so the team will have to recover quickly and then be ready to go on Saturday. We know it is going to be a difficult game for us."