Melo lifts Tigers to 4-0 win over rival Coffeyville

In a rivalry game played Wednesday night at the Mark A. Phillips Athletic Complex, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team, recorded its sixth shutout in a 4-0 win over No. 18-ranked Coffeyville Community College.

The victory improves Cowley's record to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Red Ravens are now 4-2-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

On Wednesday, Cowley struck quickly as freshman Adriano Melo scored less than two minutes into the contest. Melo would add a second goal, this time heading in a corner kick from Victor Hugo Lopes with 32:41 left in the opening half.

"Adriano has size, technique, and covers a lot of ground," Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said. "It is important to have him as an offensive threat."

The score would remain 2-0 before the Tigers got two more goals in a three-minute span early in the second half. The goals came from Carlos Noboa and Joao Lopes.

"The key was to stay in control of ourselves because there are a lot of emotions involved in a rivalry game," Vaz said. "We got the early goals, and I felt Coffeyville kind of let up a bit."

Having played only seven games, Cowley currently leads the nation in shutouts.

"You don't get scored on you don't lose," Vaz said.

The Tigers' depth has been a key to the team's success.

 "Thiago (Apolinario) and Takeru (Chiba) are doing great, and I think our most consistent player has been our right back Andre Ecker," Vaz said. "Our bench has also been doing a great job of playing at a high level."

Cowley will face another challenge when they face No. 11-ranked Barton Community College on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Great Bend, KS. The Cougars are 5-0-2 overall and 2-0-1 in the Jayhawk Conference.

"It will be an extremely difficult road game," Vaz said. "We have had some great battles with Barton; it is another rivalry game."