2 goals from Edwin Rojas, Bobby Hurwitz give Cedar Rapids Rampage first victory

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Rampage were taking a long, uncomfortable glance towards 0-4.

Three third-quarter goals by the visiting Harrisburg Heat flipped a Cedar Rapids halftime lead into a two-score deficit.

In the end, that was all the Rampage would allow.

Goals by Edwin Rojas and Sam Guernsey in a 36-second span evened the score at the end of the third quarter, then Rojas gave Cedar Rapids the lead for good as the Rampage outlasted Harrisburg, 8-6, in a Major Arena Soccer League match before 1,940 fans Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'We're working as a team,” Rojas said through interpreter and Rampage defender Joshio Sandoval. 'We're working as teammates. Everyone was running for the other. What helped us was we had a lot of order all together towards the end and more than anything, it was the base of the work throughout the week.”

Rojas, 28, is one of four players to join Cedar Rapids from rival Chicago, which is now playing in the developmental MASL2. The go-ahead score with 4:39 to go came off an assist from former Chicago teammate Taylor Bond.

'With Taylor, it's a good relationship,” Rojas said. 'We have great communication, friendship and we try to support each other. We try to play for one another and always play as a team.”

Bond led Cedar Rapids (1-3) with two assists. Midfielder Bobby Hurwitz posted two goals, including a vital insurance score from 75 feet away with 1:45 left in the match.

Harrisburg (1-1) was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

'I just think we had to keep the ball better,” first-year Rampage Coach Jonathan Greenfield said. 'First and foremost, if we can keep holding the ball for longer periods, we're not going to be, A, as tired and B, we'll wear them down. The balls will come and the gaps will happen. I think in the fourth that was the crucial moment where we kept the ball a little bit longer and better than they did.”

Cedar Rapids will return to the U.S. Cellular Center Nov. 26 against former player-coach Hewerton Moreira and the St. Louis Ambush.

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

Cedar Rapids Rampage 8, Harrisburg Heat 6

Harrisburg 1 2 3 0-6

Cedar Rapids 2 2 2 2-8

First quarter

Scoring - 1. Harrisburg: Ricardo Carvalho (David Mellor), 4:48; 2. Cedar Rapids: Joshio Sandoval (Taylor Bond), 10:43; 3. Cedar Rapids:

Gordy Gurson (Brett Petricek), 14:28.

Second quarter

Scoring - 4. Harrisburg: Brad Kerstetter, 5:56; 5. Harrisburg: Lucio Gonzaga, 8:40; 6. Cedar Rapids: Bobby Hurwitz (Gordy Gurson), 10:58; 7. Cedar Rapids:

Pablo Da Silva, 13:25.

Third quarter

Scoring - 8. Harrisburg: Ricardo Carvalho, 3:18; 9. Harrisburg: Thiago Freitas, 6:14; 10. Harrisburg: Lucio Gonzaga (Ricardo Carvalho), 12:20; 11. Cedar Rapids: Edwin Rojas, 13:41; 12. Cedar Rapids:

Sam Guernsey, 14:17.

Fourth quarter

Scoring - 13. Cedar Rapids: Edwin Rojas (Taylor Bond), 10:21; 14. Cedar Rapids:

Bobby Hurwitz, 13:17.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com