ST. LOUIS—MBU Men's Soccer had no trouble with Central Baptist College on Saturday in a 4-0 home opener victory. After leading 1-0 at halftime, the Spartans pulled away with three goals in the second half to earn the lopsided result.
It took less than three minutes for the Spartans to open the scoring the in the first half. In his debut as a Spartan, junior Joe Ruane won a footrace into the penalty area off a
Brandon Burton header, poking the ball past CBC goalkeeper Andrew Montoya for the opening goal.
The Spartans outshot the Mustangs 9-2 in the first half but still just held the one-goal advantage. Burton would double the lead nine minutes after the restart. The junior forward stole the ball just inside midfield and outraced a CBC defender in route to a breakaway. Burton slotted home into the far corner for a 2-0 lead.
Kristian Dimitrov put it even further out of reach in the 64
th minute.
Seosamh Sheerin's corner was deflected by
Nico Tossici into the middle of the penalty area. Dimitrov was there to power home his first goal of the year to make it 3-0.
The capper came in the 84
th minute via
Antonio Bussu. From midfield, Tossici saw his fellow Italian making a run towards the CBC box. Bussu ran onto it and chipped over the head of Montoya who came out to challenge.
Brandon Burton earned the second assist on the play, completing a goal and two assist performance.
Thanks to a dominating performance from the MBU backline, goalkeeper
Davide Bucarelli needed only two saves to earn his first win and clean sheet of the season.
Joel Strauser, making a fill-in start at left back, was one of those key defenders and earned the 'Man of the Match'.
"Joel put in a working-class performance," commented Head Coach
Jake Alvernia. "And he played with a heavy heart. Joel dedicated today's performance to the late Ethan Bryan, who recently passed. Ethan was the younger brother of MBU alum
McKenzy Bryan. Joel and McKenzy played together both in high school and here at MBU."
The Spartans are now an even 2-2 overall in addition to 1-0 in the American Midwest Conference. Next on the schedule will be a visit from Williams Baptist on September 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 pm at Spartan Field.
