BILLINGS, Mont. – Three different Montana State University Billings men's soccer players found the back of the net in Wednesday's convincing 3-0 exhibition triumph over visiting University of Providence at Yellowjacket Field.
 
Valdemar Fogt gave the Yellowjackets an early 1-0 lead in the first half, before Jayse Judkins and Halil Yilmaz each converted in the second half to seal the solid victory. "The guys are buying into what we are doing, our style of play, and our philosophy," MSUB head coach Thomas Chameraud commented on the team's first two weeks of training and preseason matches. "There is still some work left to do, and we have a couple of practices left before we leave to Colorado. The guys are understanding the way we want to play, and they are playing fairly well so far."
 
Fogt's goal was the result of a notable individual effort by Ty Vohland, who set up the strike on a play that started in the Yellowjackets' half of the field. Carrying the ball into open space, Vohland muscled off a pair of defenders en route to the right side of the goal box before he laid off a pass to Fogt. The freshman handled the rest, tapping the ball into an open net to make the score 1-0 in the 26th minute of play.
 
Though the Yellowjackets dictated the pace of play in the opening 45 minutes, they settled for a 1-0 advantage at halftime before turning the level up a notch. "We started fairly well and had the possession throughout the entire game," said Chameraud. "We just had to raise our expectation and our level a little bit. In the second half we scored a couple of goals, created some good chances, and we didn't really give them anything. It was a clean sheet for us which is a good thing, but still it needs to be better."
 
Judkins doubled MSUB's tally in the 64th minute, punching a picture-perfect left-footed strike into the upper corner of the net from outside of the goal box. Yilmaz put a finishing touch on the 3-0 blanking in the 82nd minute, converting his attempt from 12 yards out. His finish came courtesy of Mathias Kjølner, who drew a foul inside the 18-yard box to set up the penalty. "Ty made a very good effort to fight for the ball from his own half, and kept chasing it into their half," Chameraud said on the team's opening goal of the match. "Jayse had a great shot from his left foot outside the box into the top corner, and that was a very good finish from him. And then Mathias got us that penalty kick that Ibo made into the goal. It showed the way we want to play, how aggressive we are, and it was a very good job from the whole team."
 
Upperclassmen Luca Battistotti and Pascal Pisarek oversaw a rock solid back line, which limited the Argos to just one shot in the match. Aleksandar Garza and Kolten Unrein split an uneventful 90 minutes between the posts to combine for the shutout. "Defensively we worked really well," said Battistotti, a fourth-year captain on the squad. "I think that we can do better, but considering that we have just been working for 10 days I think it was a good performance."
 
Judkins and Yilmaz led MSUB's 15-shot barrage with three strikes apiece, and 11 different players had an attempt with six Yellowjackets landing a strike on frame throughout the match. Evan Scholes had three saves in goal for the visitors, while George Almeida had Providence's lone shot of the game. "We have to remain focused on our goals, and try to be even better for the next game," said Battistotti. "We are working to get better, and the newcomers are really open minded. They are buying into what we are doing, and that is the main thing right now."
 
THE BUZZ: Fogt was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB won its second straight preseason match, after Saturday's 2-1 comeback win at Rocky.
 
NEXT UP: MSUB's final exhibition tune-up is on Sunday afternoon with a 3 p.m. home kickoff against Carroll College. Live statistics for the game will be available online here. "Carroll should be an interesting game, and will be a good competition for us," Chameraud said regarding MSUB's Sunday opponent.
 
REGULAR SEASON AHEAD: The Yellowjackets begin their official 2021 fall season next week, with matches against Texas A&M International on Sept. 2, Colorado State-Pueblo on Sept. 4, and UC Colorado Springs on Sept. 5. MSUB will play six non-conference contests before jumping into its 10-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule on Oct. 2 under the lights at Seattle Pacific.