Burlington, IA - A midweek bus ride west was on tap for the Illinois Central College men's soccer team (2-0-0) on Wednesday, as the Cougars took to the pitch at the Burlington Rec Plex for a match against D2 Southeastern Iowa. A balanced effort and a two-goal day from Kristian Istocki all powered ICC to a 5-0 road win. 

Coach Gabe Carreno was pleased to see the set pieces work to their proper result, with the match's first two goals coming in such a fashion. Jacob Turner found Christopher Slack and Adam Pike found Edgar Ludena (last Saturday's two-goal scorer) for a 2-0 advantage. 

That would be just the start, as in the mere natural flow of the game, the Cougar attack was responsible for three more goals. Gerardo Douaihi found Istocki once, Yahir Meza found Jay Patel, and Istocki scored again, this time off an assist from Adam Pike to set the 5-0 final score. 

The (2-0-0) start is the third such start for the men's soccer program in the last four years, and is bested only by the 10-match unbeaten streak (9-0-1) to start the Fall 2021 season. 

ICC will have a relatively short turnaround before playing on the artifical turf at Eastside Centre on Saturday, a 4PM kickoff against DuPage. It will be the first non-exhibition home contest for the Cougars outside of the CougarPlex since the 2022 Region Tournament.