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Hounds notch first LSC soccer win

PORTALES — Junior forward Emerson Rodrigues scored two goals and assisted on another Sunday as the Eastern New Mexico University men’s soccer team posted a 3-0 Lone Star Conerence shutout over Northeastern State at the ENMU pitch.

The win was the first in LSC play for the Greyhounds (10-3-2, 1-2-0), and moved them out of a tie for last place in the four-team league with Northeastern (6-6-0, 0-3-0).

The Hounds extended their school record for wins, matching the 10-win season posted by the ENMU women’s squad in 2005.

Freshman midfielder Kal Herbert provided the only scoring of the first half, knocking in the deflection of a Rodrigues free kick with less than 17 minutes left in the period.

That margin held up until well into the second half. Rodrigues scored on a cross pass from senior midfielder Artur Oliveira in the 70th minute, then scored about seven minutes later on a through pass by Oliveria.

The two goals give Rodrigues 11 for the season, tying him with Ryan McClanahan (2007). It was also the second five-point game for the Brazilian at ENMU, and the fourth in the program’s history.

The shutout was the third of the season for freshman goalkeeper Alistair Caldwell, from Kilmarnock, Scotland. That ties him for second on ENMU’s all-time list with Leif Craddock, who did it in both 2005 and 2006.

Northeastern controlled much of the opening half, but Caldwell made five saves in the period to keep the RiverHawks at bay.

The Hounds are back in action at home in a 1 p.m. LSC matchup on Friday against 18th-ranked Midwestern State.