BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's soccer team brought the excitement in it's second conference victory of the season, defeating Saint Martin's University 5-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The Yellowjacket's (3-3-3, 2-1 GNAC) victory over the Saint's (0-9, 0-3 GNAC) was highlighted by a hat-trick from sophomore forward
Sam Kemmer, who became the first Yellowjacket to score at least three goals in a single match since 2021, and marked the 22
nd time a player has done so in program history. The 'Jackets thoroughly outplayed their opponents from the start, outshooting the Saints 21-6 overall, and 8-2 in shots on goal, while also keeping their fourth shutout of the season and second in conference play.
The 'Jackets opened the first half strong, attempting the first five shots of the game and preventing Saint Martin's from attempting a shot of their own until the 29
th minute of action. MSUB threatened to open the scoring multiple times in the middle stages of the half, with
Florian Senf firing a shot off the crossbar in the 25
th minute, and a
Matteo Bosch effort hitting the right post in the 27
th minute. But sandwiched in between those efforts would be the opening goal of the evening, with Kemmer opening his tally in the 26
th minute. Senf would drive into the left side of the box on the dribble, before cutting back and laying the ball off to an unmarked Kemmer, who would quickly lay the ball past the keeper to give the Yellowjackets the lead. The sophomore forward would double both his goal count and the Yellowjacket's lead in the final minute after a penalty earned by
Davis Boogman would see Kemmer calmly slot home his second goal of the match. He would appear to complete his hat-trick in the dying moments of the first half, when his last ditch effort from just in front of the halfway line would beat the recovering Saints goalkeeper, but following a discussion with the referees, it was ruled that his shot did not cross the line before the buzzer, keeping the Yellowjacket's lead at 2-0 heading into halftime.
The Yellowjackets would waste no time, jumping right back on the attack as soon as the second half began. They would threaten to score a few times in the first ten minutes of the half, before Kemmer would finally collect his third goal of the match, taking the pass from
Taylor Moore to complete the hat-trick and send both the crowd and MSUB's bench into a frenzy. The 'Jackets would have more to get excited about as the half wore on as well, with
Kolja Thomas scoring in the 74
th minute to make it 4-0 in favor of MSUB. Thomas, who spent the early part of the season recovering from injury, scored in just his second game back, making a run from center back after winning an interception at midfield and beating the defense on a give-and-go with
Bjarne Fedkenhauer, slotting the ball home for his first goal of the season. MSUB would add one more goal in the match, with
So Nagano grabbing an 88
th minute goal following a line breaking through ball from
Isaac Perez to collect his fifth goal of the season, and seal an impressive 5-0 victory for MSUB.
Kemmer collected his three goals on five shots, putting four shots on goal. Meanwhile Senf finished with an assist, four shots, and one shot on goal. Boogman and Bosch each attempted two shots, with Boogman putting one effort on target. Thomas and Nagano each scored on their lone shots of the evening, while
Carter Griffith,
Guillermo Gonzalez,
Rene Tello,
Arlo Follet, and
Zach Browning each attempted one shot.
Fred Reiter made two saves in goal, collecting his second shutout of the season.
THE BUZZ: Kemmer was selected as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… He becomes the 11
th individual player to complete a hat-trick in program history, and first since Halil Yilmaz on October 2, 2021 against Seattle Pacific… Fedkenhauer's assist on Thomas's goal marked the tenth of his MSUB career, moving him one away from entering the top ten in program history… the Yellowjacket scored five goals in a game for the first time since October 29, 2022 against Western Oregon, where MSUB picked up a 5-1 victory.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets continue GNAC play with a pair of matches on the road next week, getting things started with a game in Nampa, Idaho on Thursday, October 17 against Northwest Nazarene. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM, with live video
available here, and live statistics
available here.
