ST. LOUIS—Missouri Baptist Men's Soccer defeated Greenville University (Ill.) (NCAA DIII) 2-0 on Monday afternoon to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2009. The Spartans kept a clean sheet for the second time in as many games.
The match started slowly, with neither team creating much offense in the early going. The Spartans finally capitalized on a Greenville mistake in the 12
th minute.
Andrew Stuhlman forced a turnover in Greenville territory and found
Nick Johnson all alone just a few yards from goal. The junior provided the cool finish to put the navy and white out in front 1-0.
The middle portion of the match was dominated by chippy play from both teams with 30 fouls in the first half alone, 15 from each team. The Spartans entered the break still ahead by one and maintained that advantage all the way up until the 80
th minute. A high press from MBU's
Jona Oesterling and
Alexandru Uricaru once again led to a turnover deep in Panther territory.
Jake Smith found space at the top of the box and curled a perfect strike just inside the far post for his first goal of the season.
That would be all she wrote for Greenville. The Panthers had one chance in the final few minutes but
Richie Taylor cleared an attempt off the goal line to preserve the clean sheet. Goalkeeper
Davide Bucarelli earned the shutout without having to make a save.
"I thought we came out a bit flat," noted MBU Head Coach
Jake Alvernia. "Credit to Greenville for coming out positive and putting pressure on our guys. It really took until about the 75
th minute for us to start finding our possession game."
After posting the Spartans' second goal to seal the win, senior
Jake Smith was named 'Man of the Match'.
"Jake came into the middle and changed our possession today," said Alvernia. "He earned his goal with his position and took it well. Now we focus on Thomas."
Missouri Baptist will now hit the road for a three-match swing through Georgia and Florida. As Alvernia eluded to, they'll meet Thomas University (Ga.) on Thursday at 1:30 pm CST followed by two matches in Lakeland, Fla, one on Saturday against Ave Maria (Fla.) and one Monday against Southeastern (Fla.). Keep an eye on MBUSpartans.com and @mbuathletics on twitter for all the road trip updates.
