[Men's Soccer] Castillo's Two Goals Fuel's Perez's First Career Victory

WICHITA, Kan. – Isaiah Castillo put in two goals to help give head coach Bryan Perez his first career victory at the helm of the Friends University men's soccer program.  The Falcons held off the Oklahoma Panhandle State University Aggies 3-2 in non-conference action today (Sept. 5) at Adair-Austin Stadium.

"It was a great team win," said Perez. "I'm proud of the guys for fighting until the end. We can definitely build from this and keep raising the standards."

Following a scoreless first half, Castillo got the scoring going by beating the defense inside the box after Christian Raffinengo (SO/Wichita, Kan. ) played a ball to Juan Zamora (JR/LaBelle, Florida) in the ninth minute of the second half.

Zamora then put the Falcons up by two goals with his 34th career goal at the 61:28 mark to move into second place all-time in school history since accurate records were kept.

Seven minutes later, Raffinengo recorded his second assist of the match on a feed to Castillo that stretched the lead to three goals.

But the Falcons had to withstand a late rally by the Aggies, as Yannis Sapim assisted on a goal by Alberto Duque Gonzal before scoring off his own deflected shot in the 82nd minute.

The Falcons pulled out the victory despite being out-shot 19-12 overall and 11-6 on-goal.

Castillo led the Falcons (1-2) with four shots, with Duque Gonzal leading everyone with five shot-attempts for OPSU (2-1).

Jasper McLeod (SR/Princes Town, Trinidad &Tobago) made eight saves for Friends, while Javier Torres recorded a pair of saves for the Aggies over the final 68:17 after subbing in for starting goalkeeper Hugo Dutour, who was forced out with an injury in the 22nd minute of the first half.

Next up, the Falcons will play Friday night (Sept. 10) at John Brown University. Kickoff is set for 7 pm in Siloam Springs, Ark.