Jovanny Santibanez has been known to scorch a few nets in Albert Lea and Monday he was up to his old habits, this time for the Riverland Community College men’s soccer team.

Santibanez played for Owatonna in high school and was one of the premier players in the Big Nine last season. This year he’s playing for the Blue Devils and lifted the first-year program to its first victory of the season with a four-goal game as RCC scored four unanswered goals for a 5-1 win over Crossroads College in Albert Lea.

“He’s really good,” Jake Thompson said of Santibanez. “Give him the ball and he’ll do what he needs to do to score. “

Tan Do put the Blue Devils up 1-0, but the Knights rallied to tie the game. The score remained tied until the second half when Santibanez heated up.

Santibanez got his first goal off a penalty kick and then attacked the Crossroads defense and scored on two breakaway goals. Do assisted on Santibanez’s fourth goals while William Dehoogh and Gabriel Sanchez assisted on two goals.

The Blue Devils outshot the Knights 24-12 and had seven corner kicks compared to just two for Crossroads.

Three former Albert Lea High School players are on the roster and they all make up the defense for RCC. Lukas Deng, Chris Karge and Jake Thompson are all Albert Lea alums and held down the defense for the Blue Devils Monday.

The soccer team tied Crossroads 1-1 earlier in the year and was handed a 15-0 loss to Anoka-Ramsey, a 10-0 loss to Ridgewater and a 6-1 loss to Century Community College.

Despite the lack of early success head coach Soner Dogan sees his team improving quickly.

“It shows that we are on the right track,” Dogan said.

Dogan said half the team has never played soccer before but he’s proud of the their efforts in the program’s first year.

The Blue Devils have three more contests scheduled in Albert Lea. The next match will be Sept. 30 when they face Ridgewater. RCC will wrap up the regular season Oct. 9 and 10 in Albert Lea. On Oct. 9 the Blue Devils will face Hibbing Community College and then Bismarck on the 10th.