Yellowjacket Soccer Looks to Bounce Back in Colorado (Sept. 24, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – The MSU Billings men’s soccer team took its lumps in Washington last week and will be looking to stop a three-game losing streak in Colorado this weekend.  The Yellowjackets slipped to the .500 mark for the season, losing three games to fall to 5-5-1.  They will play at Regis on Friday and at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Saturday.

“We played some quality teams last week,” said head coach Doug Seigle of his team’s losses to Seattle, Seattle Pacific and Western Washington.  “They play together well and play a different style than we’ve seen this year.  They’re more possessive, so hopefully we learned last week how to play quicker with the ball.”

Friday’s match-up with Regis was originally going to reunite brothers Thomas and Oliver Pertuit, two Billings natives.  Thomas plays for the Yellowjackets and Oliver plays for the Rangers.  However, Oliver reportedly received his fifth yellow card of the season Sunday in a 5-2 win over Colorado Christian, thus forcing him to sit out the next game against MSU Billings.

The story line of the weekend might be how the backups play for all three teams because the Yellowjackets will find themselves shorthanded as well.  Victor Sargent (Fr., Billings, MT) will miss the next 3-4 weeks with an ankle injury, and Robbie Thimm (Sr., Park City, UT) will miss the remainder of the season with a broken leg suffered against the University of Mary two weeks ago.  Sargent and Thimm had combined for three goals, 11 points and 31 shots.

“Both teams we play this week play a more direct style than the teams in Washington,” said Seigle.  “I think the keys for us are that we have players step up and make the most of their opportunities when we have a couple starters missing.  Robbie and Victor were two of our top scorers, so we’ll need someone to step up and produce with them out.”

The Jackets will still have leading scorer Thomas Pertuit (Jr., Billings, MT) who has eight goals and 19 points on the season.  Four other players have scored three points, and Lucas Sanchez (Sr., Park City, UT) has a goal and two assists for four points.  Sanchez will be questionable for Friday’s game with an injury, but could see limited action in both games this weekend. 

In goal for the Yellowjackets will likely be Jess Feldtman (So., Lander, WY).  Feldtman has played 591 of the Yellowjackets’ 1041 minutes this season, allowing 14 goals and making 21 saves.  He has a 2.13 goals-against average in seven games played.  Yacine Zerizef (So., Casper, WY) and Kevin Petritz (Jr., Butte, MT) have combined for 450 minutes, allowing seven goals and making 17 saves between them.

Regis is 4-4-2 overall, but has won only one of its last four games.  Lance Snodgrass has scored eight goals and 21 points this season, and Seigle believes he’s one of the most dangerous players the Yellowjackets will face.  Goalkeeper Mike Montgomery has posted a stingy 1.09 goals-against average. 

Colorado-Colorado Springs is 3-4-0 and has won three of its last four.  Jared Blackney and Art Cutter have accounted for six of the Mountain Lions’ 13 goals.  Goalkeeper Matt Mitchell has a 1.88 goals-against average.