HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- Throughout the course of Wednesday evening's contest against the Cincinnati-Clermont Cougars' men's soccer program, the Shawnee State men's soccer program left little doubt as to who the better program was.
So while the opening 27 minutes of play saw Wednesday's nonconference bout sit at a scoreless tie, it was clear that opportunities were going to come in short order once the Bears struck.
That was certainly the case over the contest's remaining 63 ticks.
Nikos Pontikis posted an incredible 10 shots on his own -- including six shots on goal with successful conversions in the 28th and 73rd minutes of play -- while Marco Riva posted his first career hat trick by scoring just 20 seconds after Ponitkis' opening blast to start the scoring, then again just four minutes later and one final time off of a Pontikis pass in the 71st frame to head up a 7-1 drubbing of Cincinnati-Clermont Wednesday evening at Scudamore Field on the campus of Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky.
From start to finish, Shawnee State put the pedal to the floorboard -- simply dominating Cincinnati-Clermont via a 33-3 shot advantage. The Bears outshot the Cougars by a commanding 14-2 count in the first half, then upticked that mark to a massive 19-1 shot edge in the second half of play.
In all, 12 different players posted a shot attempt during the contest -- and SSU put 19 of its 33 shots on frame in the affair.
Pontikis, Riva show off attacking style throughout
Never shy about bringing high levels of intensity to the table, Shawnee State captain Nikos Ponitkis -- one of three such leaders on the unit along with fellow upperclassmen Guillermo Bitencourt and Eric Green -- along with senior veteran Marco Riva, continued building on potentially strong campaigns for the natives of Greece and Italy.
Ponitkis scored off of two touch passes from Benjamin Chandler and Marco Riva in the 28th minute, then, 20 seconds later, found Riva for what was the latter's first goal of the contest -- helping turn a 0-0 contest into a 2-0 Shawnee State lead in one fell swoop in the 28th. Riva then scored on a breakaway in the 32nd minute, scoring easily to help Shawnee State claim a 3-0 lead in a flash.
In the second half, Pontikis again gave Cincinnati-Clermont fits. After just barely missing on two shot attempts -- one of which glanced off of the crossbar -- the captain found Riva for what would be his third and final goal in the 71st minute of action.
With Shawnee State holding a 3-1 lead in the 71st minute, Ponitkis and Riva struck again -- as Riva scored on Pontikis' pass to claim his hat trick. Within a two-minute stretch, Pontikis then answered by scoring on an excellent pass from João Coqueti Léo who launched a pass from the near side of the field toward Pontikis on the backside -- giving Shawnee State a 5-1 lead in the 73rd.
Claiming his first career hat trick -- as well as an assist -- Riva, who performed admirably in the contest, was able to score three times in his five shots that officially were on frame. The native of Como, Italy now has four goals, two assists and 10 points for the 2024 season in what is basically a career year for the senior.
As for Pontikis, the junior also has four goals and two assists for the 2024 season after posting his second two-goal performance of the season just over a quarter of the way through the year. Pontikis has nine goals and four assists for his Shawnee State career.
Van de Pol, Stam get in the scoring mix late
Two consistent Shawnee State letterwinners helped finish off the scoring for Shawnee State -- as additional hands got into the scoring action with Benjamin Chandler, who played in a strong fashion all game in various roles while helping fill in for Alfie Maynard up front after an early injury to Maynard, and Eli Tomas, along with Darian Rodrigues, all contributing in a heavy manner.
Lars Van de Pol and Matt Stam each capitalized on opportunities that they had as well -- as Van de Pol scored in the middle of the box in the 79th minute to help Shawnee State claim a 6-1 advantage. Six minutes later, Tomas slid a pass through to Stam, who rocketed a ball to the left side for the 85th minute finish that capped the scoring and sealed the 7-1 result.
Van de Pol notched the third goal of his Shawnee State career off of his finish, which came off of an assist from Théo Cavaleiro Trindade, while Stam scored his second career goal at Shawnee State off of Tomas' first career assist in the six-goal triumph.
"We attacked relentlessly for much of the contest, and I'm proud of all the guys for finishing strong," Shawnee State head coach Stan Rodrigues said. "Credit goes to (Shawnee State assistant coach) Jonathan Olivera, who has helped set the table with the lineup and rotation, and (Shawnee State assistant coach) Joao Toledo, who, along with Jonathan, has worked with the guys as they have continued to progress. Tonight was an effort where everybody contributed and that's always great to see as a coach."
With the victory, Shawnee State (2-3-1) will turn its attention to a Saturday evening nonconference affair against Michigan-Dearborn, which commences at 5 p.m. at Shawnee Turf. That contest is part of a doubleheader that sees the women's soccer program precede the men with its own nonconference contest against Mount Vernon Nazarene at 2 p.m.
