No. 6 Rio Grande wins River States Conference matchup over Point Park men's soccer

RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- No. 6-ranked University of Rio Grande (Ohio) held on to an early lead of 1-0 and added two goals in the final six minutes to register a 3-0 win over visiting Point Park University on Thursday night.

The RedStorm improved to 12-1-2 overall and stayed unbeaten in the RSC at 9-0-1 to keep their hopes alive of a conference regular-season crown. 

Point Park (8-5-3, 5-3-1 RSC) is now in a tie for third place in the RSC with Oakland City (Ind.), which is also 5-3-1 RSC with 16 points as well. The Pioneers do have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mighty Oaks.The top four teams in the standings host a quarterfinal playoff game. 

Rio Grande, meanwhile, moved into the RSC points lead with WVU Tech (8-0-1 RSC) still to play another game. The RedStorm have completed all 10 conference games. 

Rio Grande went ahead 1-0 on Thursday night with Rafael Kawata scoring at the 9:38 mark. The RedStorm clung to that lead until the 84th and 90th minutes, when they put in their other goals. 

The first half was on fairly even terms for shots with Rio Grande nine and Point Park seven. The chances diminshed for the Pioneers after halftime being outshot 8-1 but still hanging in down 1-0. 

Point Park also withstood six corner kicks in the second half and seven for the game. Fouls were even for the night with 10 on Rio Grande and nine on Point Park although that was 9-3 on Rio Grande in the first half and 6-1 against Point Park in the second half. 

Point Park will finish the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 28 at home versus IUPUC with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff at Highmark Stadium. It's Senior Day for the Pioneers with the recognition to take place at approximately 12:45 p.m.

The Pioneers are pushing for a home playoff game Nov. 4. Saturday is the final day of the RSC regular sesaon with the eight playoff qualifiers and the bracket based on the final points standings.