After being held scoreless through the first 51 minutes of play, Rockhurst’s varsity soccer team scored four second-half goals in a road win over Pembroke Hill on Oct. 7, 2025.
Forward Michael Gary and midfielder Liam Dean broke the deadlock with 29 minutes left in the game, scoring a pair of goals within two minutes before Rockhurst’s new career-scoring leader, Asende Welongo, notched his own couple of goals in quick succession to put the match away at 4-0.
The Hawklets came into the game at near-full strength, with regular starter Rex Olivas the only member of the squad to not suit up.
The first half provided multiple opportunities for the Rockhurst attack. A combined 21 corner kicks and toss-ins on the Pembroke side of the field failed to generate a first-half score.
The Hawklets’ defense held up nicely in the first frame, with keeper Luke Strueby not attempting a save until the second half as a dominant performance from the backline helped keep the sheet clean.
At halftime, Rockhurst head coach Matt Darby emphasized his outfit’s need to “make [their] own luck” inside the goal box on offense while staying mentally present on defense.
“One goal on their part makes a huge difference,” Darby said to his team.
The Raiders’ best chance to score that crucial goal came following a controversial foul called on Strueby to set up a Pembroke free kick with 31:30 left in the match.
The foul, called near the edge of the goal box, drew the ire of Darby and several Rockhurst players. Both sides appeared frustrated by officiating on a night where the Hawklets were shown a season-high four yellow cards.
Strueby was issued a yellow on the play, bringing him out of the game and forcing senior reserve Quinn Condon into action.
“I saw the foul, immediately got up, I’m like, ‘I’m probably in,'” Condon said.
The kick from Pembroke senior Albert Becker snuck under the leaping wall of Rockhurst defenders before bouncing harmlessly into Condon’s arms.
“It’s the stuff you practice every day,” Condon said of his save.
Shortly after the Raiders’ missed opportunity, Gary broke the game open from his outside attacker spot with a goal (assisted by Calvin Schieffer) before dishing an assist to Dean less than two minutes later.
“I made a late run into the box. It was a good cross [by Gary], and then I just finished it into the bottom left,” Dean said of his tally.
Welongo’s goals came from assists by Connor Dierks on a corner kick and Tanner Hollenbeck on a long pass. The senior’s second goal was particularly impressive, as he collected the ball from Hollenbeck roughly 30 yards from the goal before stringing together a series feints in the low left box and drilling a powerful shot into the top of the net.
Welongo’s strikes put the Hawklets firmly in lead-preservation mode with 13 minutes to play, as Darby instructed his last set of subs to preserve the final score.
“No goals. Keep the shutout,” Darby said to Hollenbeck, Mo Abdalla and Sam Hafner.
Keep the shutout they did, and Rockhurst ran out the remaining time with little challenge.
The Hawklets are now faced with a quick turnaround, returning to Dasta Memorial Stadium to play the Lee’s Summit North Broncos Wednesday night. Dean believes the team will be able to draw on its deep roster to keep players fresh.
“It’s always good when you can rotate minutes within games, so players aren’t too sore for the next game,” Dean said.
Rockhurst will be looking to carry over the momentum from the second half of the Pembroke game into the second game of the back-to-back.
“We know that if we focus on ourselves and bring the effort and energy that we can beat any team we play,” Dean said.
The Hawklets, now sporting a 12-0-1 record, are ranked as the No. 1 team in both the state of Missouri and the Midwest region at large. They are also the No. 6 team in the country.
Wednesday night’s game vs. Lee’s Summit North will kick off at 6:30 p.m.
