OKSMAN’S THREE SECOND-HALF GOALS LIFT NO. 1 NORTHEAST OVER ARKANSAS CASSATOT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The No. 1 Northeast Community College men's soccer team was back in Little Rock, Arkansas Monday to finish up their weekend road trip with a contest against the University of Arkansas Cossatot. The Hawks were victorious in the match by a final score of 4-0 behind three goals from Ellis Oksman (Omaha, Neb.).

Northeast (3-1) put their loss on Saturday behind them quickly as Len Valkema (Leewarden, Netherlands) scored his third goal of the season just one minute into the game with an assist from Marius Elmose (Viby, Denmark). The defense for the Hawks was sharp again as they recorded their third shutout of the year.

The scoreboard remained 1-0 until the halftime break, but Northeast came out of the intermission on fire as freshman Oksman found the back of the net in the 47th minute, the 62nd minute and the 89th minute to record a hat trick and secure the victory.

STAT SHEET:

Goal: Len Valkema (Leewarden, Netherlands), Ellis Oksman (Omaha, Neb.) - 3

Assists: Marius Elmose (Viby, Denmark), Len Valkema, Felix Bomber (Regensburg, Germany), Prince Adu-Boamah (Whitstable, England)

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Men's Soccer Coach Adam Potter on the victory Monday:

"Good response by the guys," Potter said. "We started out great again. We have to be able to handle adversity and handle moments throughout a game while executing what is asked. Good things happen when we execute the way we want to execute, and the second half was a prime example."

Potter on his team bouncing back from a loss on Saturday:

"Our group has been going on the road and playing a bunch of top teams," Potter said. "We haven't had many training sessions to clean up and fix things. It was super impressive for our guys to have the response they did today. Huge tip of the hat to Ellis Oksman. He did a fantastic job of coming into the game, understanding what we wanted from him and executing to put the game away. He came out there with a fire and a passion and it was really cool to see him take full advantage of the moment and make a big statement with a hat trick."

Potter on the week ahead before traveling to St. Louis:

"We are going to get back and then turn around and go again against more tough opponents," Potter said. "We have to stay unified and collected if we are going to go and get results next weekend. We have to stay together and understand the game plan. We have to continue to grow and play with a little bit of fire and grit. Good step forward, and we have to just keep learning."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will take on St. Louis Community College at 6 p.m. Friday in St. Louis, Missouri.

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