Box Score

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Nov. 3, 2007) - Oklahoma Christian took advantage of 22 shots to defeat Rogers State (Okla.) 5-1 Saturday night in the first round of the NAIA Region VI Tournament.

OC sophomore Cristian Fernandes tallied his second career hat trick in the victory.

The victory advances OC to the region semifinals against No. 3-ranked Southern Nazarene (Okla.). The Crimson Storm won the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Monday at SNU.

Fernandes kickstarted the scoring outburst Saturday in the game's opening minute when he drilled a shot into the left side off an assist from Preston Okwuonu to make the score 1-0.

The Eagles upped the lead to 2-0 at the 38:55 mark when Tyler Brady headed home a Nathan Payne offering.

The Hillcats, a first-year collegiate soccer program, got on the board with 20:51 on the clock. Shemord Thompson gathered a deflection and scored into the left side.

The 2-1 tally held until halftime despite a near-miss goal from OC freshman Nathan Payne. Payne's shot rattled off both goal posts before narrowly rolling out at the 20:00 mark.

The Eagles poured on the points in the second stanza. Fernandes again got things going early with a goal at the 41:13 mark. The score came from 15 yards out on a bounding shot into the right side to make it 3-1.

Less than two minutes later, Fernandes' third goal grew the lead to 4-1 off an assist from Phillip Hoover.

OC added more insurance with less than a minute to play on an indirect free kick. Ryan Frampton sent the ball to Adam Barnes, who fired it home to bring the final mark to 5-1.

OC outshot RSU 22-to-9 in the match. The five goals is the Eagles' second -highest single-game total this season (6-1 at St. Gregory's Oct. 13).