ST. LOUIS—[
BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist men's soccer pushed its unbeaten streak to seven games with a 3-1 win over Hannibal-LaGrange on Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Field.
After a relatively quiet first quarter of an hour, the Spartans struck first in the 18
th minute.
Victor Rada's long free kick bounced off the hands of Hannibal keeper Micah Thompson. A scramble on the goal line ensued and
Cullen Barr was able to poke home the loose ball to put MBU on the board first.
The Spartans looked to be heading into the half ahead until the Trojans were able to find the equalizer in the final moments of the opening frame. With 30 seconds left, Hannibal's Hugo Lopez struck a free kick from about 30 yards out that eluded all MBU defenders including goalkeeper
Davide Bucarelli. The attempt found the top right corner of the net and sent the match into halftime at 1-1.
After the restart, Missouri Baptist was determined to retake the lead and it took just five minutes for that to happen.
Nick Johnson's corner kick was deflected by
Brandon Boos into the path of
Jesus Espinosa. Espinosa got just enough of the ball to guide it through a maze of players and into the lower corner of the net. It was the Spaniard's second goal in as many games and the second of his MBU career.
16 minutes after the go-ahead goal,
Connor Riley delivered the dagger to the visiting Trojans. The sophomore found space just outside the box after a feed from
Victor Rada and hit a well-placed strike into the far corner past the goalkeeper Thompson. Riley's first goal of the year gave the Spartans a two-goal cushion they would not relinquish. Rada's second assist of the day was his team-high fifth helper of the season. The final was 3-1 as the Spartans kept pace as one of the top three teams in the AMC standings.
Head Coach
Jake Alvernia was pleased with the effort.
"I thought we settled into the game nicely," Alvernia noted. "It was unfortunate to concede that first goal but in the second half we were on the front foot most of the way."
Connor Riley earned 'Man of the Match' recognition after scoring his first goal as a Spartan.
"Connor was very strong defensively today," Alvernia said. "His position was good and he popped in his first collegiate goal."
The victory improved Missouri Baptist's record to 9-3-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the American Midwest Conference. Next up is a Saturday afternoon road contest with (RV) Columbia College. The Cougars are 6-0 in the AMC and sit atop the conference standings. Kickoff at Marvin Owens Stadium is set for 7:30 pm.
