PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- In any matchup, it's vital to set the tone early -- especially in a conference matchup where wins can be difficult to come by due to both the level of competition as well as the competitiveness that lies within that competition.

The men's soccer program at Shawnee State certainly set up the tone early in what ended up being a terrific night of soccer for the Bears -- as freshman Cameron Thompson continued his strong freshman campaign by posting scoring marks in the fifth and 18th minutes of play to give SSU a comfortable cushion early while Nikos Pontikis and João Coqueti Léo finished off Shawnee State's effort with goals in the 72nd and 87th minutes of action to give the Bears a 4-0 victory over Indiana-East Thursday evening in a River States Conference matchup that was held at Shawnee Turf in Portsmouth.

Tale of the Tape

On both ends, Shawnee State controlled the game's tempo for much of the 90-minute affair -- notching 12 shots in all and placing 10 balls on frame while holding Indiana-East to just five shots overall and four on goal in the victory.

Seven different Bears notched shot attempts in what proved to be a balanced scoring attack offensively once again for Shawnee State -- while Eric Green stopped each of the four attempts that he saw, including a terrific save in the 82nd minute that preserved the senior's third clean sheet of the year in the victory.

Cam's the Man

Thompson, who did an excellent job pressuring the Indiana-East defense throughout the 90-minute affair, scored on Shawnee State's first shot attempt of the contest in the fifth minute after receiving the ball in front of the goal in the box and rocketing a missile into the back of the net.

13 minutes later, Thompson scored again -- as the freshman from Chillicothe, Ohio by way of Unioto High School scored on a touch pass from Marco Riva on the near side of the field to help the Bears claim a huge 2-0 lead with more than 70 minutes still left to play in the contest.

Quietly producing an efficient statline, Thompson now has four goals and eight points in his first season with Shawnee State -- all on just nine shots for a .444 shot percentage. Thompson has placed seven out of his nine shots on goal en route to a .778 shot percentage for the season.

Green maintains clean sheet

Helping direct traffic throughout his play in goal, Shawnee State senior goalkeeper Eric Green was huge between the 67th to 82nd minutes of play. During that stretch, Green stopped three shots -- including a high leap in the 82nd minute that helped deflect a Tristan Thomas shot above the crossbar and preserve control for the Bears.

For the year, Green has made 50 saves between the posts.

Pontikis, Coqueti Léo put game away late

With Green manning the posts and Thompson putting the Bears out in front early, Nikos Pontikis and João Coqueti Léo helped put Shawnee State away to stay.

The former, who plays at a consistently high motor for 90 minutes, took a well-placed free kick from Guillermo Conejo Martin and headed Martin's ball into the back of the net on the near side of the box to put the Bears ahead by a 3-0 margin in the 72nd frame.

Just 15 minutes later, Coqueti Léo capitalized on his own opportunity. With Marco Riva running free again after turning the corner in the box on the near side, Riva found Coqueti Léo in the middle of the box, and the freshman did the rest by punching home his second goal of the year to finalize the result.

Pontikis, in his own goal, moved to six goals and two assists for the season -- and holds team-highs in goals and points for the Bears in 2024. The junior also leads the Bears in shots on goal (16), and has scored his six goals in 25 shots to accumulate a .240 shot percentage for the season.

For his career, Pontikis now has 11 goals, four assists and 26 points at Shawnee State.

Additional

With his two assists in Thursday's victory, Riva now has four goals, four assists and 12 points for the 2024 season to date while Conejo Martin posted his first assist of the 2024 season in the four-goal triumph.

Shawnee State (4-6-1, 1-1 River States Conference) will turn its attention to a big road contest at Oakland City (5-3-2, 2-0 River States Conference) Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. The match will be held at Southridge High School in Huntingsburg, Ind.