BILLINGS, Mont. – Wearing the captain's arm band, junior defender Bryan Maxwell put an exclamation point on a stellar overall performance by tucking home the game-winning goal in the 80th minute of Wednesday's 3-2 victory for the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team over host Rocky Mountain College at Herb Klindt Field.
 
Maxwell was the team's standout defender up until his heroic moment, as he helped seal a victory in a back-and-forth season-opening affair for the crosstown rivals. "It was just fun, and the team was so psyched to be out here," Maxwell said on the Yellowjackets' first game since November 14, 2019. "I think we can take this win and just try to concede less goals, and try to get a shutout next time we play them."
 
Edgar Ramirez scored his first goal in a Yellowjacket uniform, and Austin Shafer converted a penalty kick for his fourth career goal to help MSUB improve to 1-0 on the year. "It was a very good first game," said MSUB head coach Thomas Chameraud. "It's a derby game against a very good NAIA program, and it is always a tough game. I thought we played well especially in the first half, and we had good possession. The guys battled throughout the game."
 
The Bears had the first dangerous chance of the game, winning a free kick just outside of the goal box 17 minutes into action. Sky Swenson lined up a powerful shot from 22 yards out, but the Yellowjacket defensive wall did its job to block an on-target attempt.
 
Maxwell had a crucial sliding tackle in the box after a giveaway by the Yellowjackets, knocking the ball off of Swenson's foot to allow starting goalkeeper Lars Funk to snag it before what would have been a shot on target from point-blank range. "Defensively he has done great," Chameraud commented on Maxwell's 90-minute effort on the back line. "With the ball, without the ball, and he was hard on his man as well. Credit to him for being attentive, focused, and getting the rebound to put it into the back of the net."
 
RMC goalkeeper Ryan Cornwall was tested with 16 minutes to go before halftime, when Noah Runsvold served an accurate cross curling into the goal box off of a free kick. Cornwall raced forward to punch the ball away and then dove backwards moments later to knock away a half-volley shot off the foot of Paul Cuevas that was destined for the back of the net.
 
The Bears struck first in the 38th minute on a stunning finish off the foot of RMC captain Milo Downey. After a Bears throw in was knocked out of the goal box by the MSUB defense, Downey met the ball perfectly with his right foot on a first-time strike that lashed into the upper-left corner of the net from 25 yards away.
 
Less than a minute after taking the lead however, the Bears conceded a goal in similar fashion. After the defense cleared the ball out of the box on a corner kick, Tybalt Thornberry sent a high, curling cross back in from the right side where Ramirez weaved between defenders and redirected it inside the near post to pull MSUB even at 1-1. "It was a very nice goal from Edgar," Chameraud said. "He is not the tallest on the team, but he can jump very high and today he proved it on a second ball coming off a corner kick. He is a quick, technical player, and I think he created quite a bit of problems on the right side for Rocky today."
 
"After (conceding) the first goal we just wanted to get back into the game, and we were able to in just a few minutes," Maxwell commented on the quick equalizer. "We have a few things to work on defensively to try to eliminate their second goal, but we got the last goal and that's all that matters."
 
The 'Jackets took the lead just over a minute into the second half, when Shafer was brought down inside the box to draw a penalty kick. The junior striker neatly tucked the shot from 12 yards out into the lower left corner of the net to make the score 2-1.
 
MSUB nearly struck again in the 50th minute, when a nice give-and-go from Ramirez to Cuevas resulted in a shot from within the box that curled just outside the far post. The Bears took advantage of a loose ball in the box after a cross in the 57th minute, as Igor Soares fought off a pair of defenders to nudge the ball into an open net and make the score 2-2.
 
With 11 minutes left in the match, Thornberry had an open shot from the top of the box that took a strong save from RMC's Luke Turner to keep out of the net. The deflection fell onto the foot of Jacob Holtz, who sent an even harder shot on frame from 35 yards out but watched as Turner leaped backwards to push the attempt over the crossbar.
 
The ensuing corner kick proved to be the final blow however, as freshman Ty Vohland was able to knock the loose ball towards Maxwell for the winning finish. "There was a cross and I knew there was going to be room," Maxwell said. "It was great, and that's what we play for right there."
 
"Kudos to our assistant coach Matt (Ball) for coming up with the set pieces, and today we scored on three of those," Chameraud said. "It's an important piece of the game that we have worked on, and it paid off today."
 
On a brisk day that started with a dusting of snow 90 minutes before kickoff that made for a frosty warmup, and ended with blue skies, the Yellowjackets out-shot the Bears 11-9 and placed seven attempts on frame compared to RMC's two. Runsvold, Brad Lowes, and Pascal Pisarek joined Maxwell in playing the full 90 minutes, and Mathias Kjølner was effective over the course of 75 minutes in his collegiate debut.
 
THE BUZZ: Maxwell was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…the goal was the third of his MSUB career and his first game winner…in official contests, MSUB is now 5-0 all-time against Rocky and is 2-0 in road matches…redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kolten Unrein earned his first collegiate win in his debut.
 
COMING UP: The teams will meet again on Saturday with a noon kickoff scheduled at Herb Klindt Field. Live coverage will be available online here.
 
"We will play them again in two days, so the plan is to recover, correct the mistakes we made, and come back here on Saturday and try to produce a performance like we did today," Chameraud said.