HELENA, Mont. – Rolling to a 3-0 blanking of host Carroll College on Tuesday afternoon at Nelson Stadium, the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team started its preseason exhibition slate with a bang.
 
Jeremie Briquet lifted the 'Jackets in the road triumph, scoring twice and providing an assist to highlight the stat sheet. Ryan Hanley netted the first goal of the match, and the Yellowjackets never looked back en route to the one-sided victory.
 
"For us to go on the road is always a difficult scenario, and to battle through a road test and dominate the majority of play was really good to see," said first-year head coach Aaron Champenoy. "We were able to dictate the majority of what happened and we were solid defensively. Keeping a clean sheet on the road is huge, and if we are able to continue to be solid defensively we will have a good chance to come out and compete once we get to league play."
 
The starting defensive unit of center backs Guillermo Gonzalez and Matthew Wilkinson along with outside backs Bryan Maxwell and Pascal Pisarek put their veteran presence on display, handling the few offensive chances Carroll created throughout the match. Newcomer Jeremi Campagnolo had a key save on a well-struck free kick in the first half, and Kolten Unrein made a pair of saves over the final 45 minutes as each contributed to the shutout between the posts. Kolja Thomas also saw his first 30 minutes in a Yellowjacket uniform, helping sustain the high level of play defensively upon making his debut.
 
The Yellowjackets commanded the pace of play from the outset of the match, holding the bulk of the possession over the first 30 minutes. The opening goal came in the 31st minute, when the 'Jackets won the ball in the midfield and Briquet embarked on a penetrating run deep into the attacking third. The junior lifted a cross towards Hanley inside the box, and the latter finished inside the back post after bringing the ball down off his chest.
 
"That was a nice clean goal," said Champenoy. "We got back in good defensive shape, won the ball, and had a good counterattack."
 
Briquet doubled MSUB's advantage just two minutes later, winning the ball and beating a defender to create room for a shot. From 22 yards out, his unsavable strike carried into the upper-left corner of the net to push the 'Jackets ahead 2-0.
 
Fortune favored the returning all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference midfielder in the 76th minute, when a failed clearance by the Saints back line rattled off his shin and soared over the head of goalkeeper Mathias Graveson from long range to put the game out of reach.
 
"I was really happy with our first 30 minutes, but we are still fighting to get match fit," Champenoy said after the team's second match in four days. "We didn't finish the first half as strong as what we would have liked, but that's just part of the process right now. Everybody on the back line played well, and Bjarne Fedkenhauer was really solid in the midfield for us. He did a lot of the dirty work allowing Jeremie to get on the end of things and push up field."
 
The victory marked the second match against outside competition for the Yellowjackets, who played a non-counting scrimmage on Saturday against Northwest College at Amend Park in Billings.
 
The final preseason contest for MSUB is slated for Saturday evening when it takes on crosstown rival Rocky Mountain College at 5 p.m. at Herb Klindt Field. Live coverage for Saturday's match will be available online here.
 
The 2022 regular season begins with a home match against University of Providence on Aug. 28 at Yellowjacket Field.