ST. LOUIS—Missouri Baptist men's soccer scored two second half goals and held off a late comeback attempt to defeat Harris-Stowe 2-1 on Wednesday at Spartan Field.
The Spartans controlled the play in the first half but could not capitalize on several prime scoring chances. With the Hornets content to sit back and absorb pressure, MBU launched 12 shots attempts in the opening 45 with five on goal.
The navy and white kept the foot on the gas in the second half and it would eventually pay off. In the 58
th minute,
Jesus Espinosa was impeded inside the penalty area on an MBU corner kick and the referee awarded a penalty.
Jona Oesterling stepped forward to take the penalty but was denied by Hornets' keeper John Jancewicz.
Oesterling would be gifted a second chance, however, as it was determined that Jancewicz illegally came off the goal line before the kick. Oesterling calmly picked a corner on the second try and Jancewicz could not get a hand on it. The freshman's first MBU goal gave the home side a 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes later,
Cullen Barr's third goal of the year doubled the advantage for the Spartans.
Victor Rada played Barr into space and the native of Lake St. Louis blasted home from just outside the box to make it 2-0.
Harris-Stowe would pull one back with seven minutes remaining but MBU keeper
Davide Bucarelli stood tall under intense pressure in the final moments to preserve the victory. Bucarelli finished with four saves to earn his sixth win of the season. Head coach
Jake Alvernia once again awarded his sophomore shot stopper 'Man of the Match' honors.
"Davide's save in the second half in the first minute was the difference in changing the game for us," Alvernia noted. "We played really well in the first half but didn't take our chances. To Stowe's credit they came out better in the second half but we found the quality to finish two good goals."
Missouri Baptist is now 6-3-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the AMC. They'll look to stretch the unbeaten streak to five games when they travel to Lyon College on Saturday. Kickoff in Batesville, Ark. Is scheduled for 1:30 pm.
