ST. LOUIS – From the jump, (RV) Missouri Baptist men's soccer was not to be denied a midweek victory to end its non-conference portion of the season.
 
MBU (7-2, 1-0 in AMC) scored early, controlled the tempo, and left little doubt in its 3-0 clean sheet win against Iowa Wesleyan (2-9-1). The Spartans loaded up and took aim at the IWU goal, outshooting the Tigers 17-6. MoBap likely felt a bit of an offensive hangover coming off its 10-goal performance on Saturday against UHSP and saw a handful of chances denied for offsides.
 
The Spartan attack got things going from a free kick inside the Tigers half. Joe Ruane looped a slick ball to an oncoming Brendan McAllister over the IWU defense that was caught napping on the restart. McAllister's cross in the box was blocked, but a handball was the result, and a penalty was given. Marko Dordevic stepped up and calmly slotted the spot kick home to the keeper's right for his ninth of the season (4:55).
 
It was a relatively uneventful remainder of the first half, with the Spartan defense shutting down any chance the Tigers had at equalizing. The midfield and high press of the attack dominated the time of possession in MBU's favor. Goalkeeper Callum McKinlay was forced into just three saves overall. The new look defensive unit of seniors Nicolo Tossici, Brendan McAllister, Jack Griffiths, and freshman Matt Parnas, starting in their second straight game together, looked polished and coordinated.
 
The Spartans would again take charge in the first few minutes after intermission, doubling their advantage. A poetic, well-worked move in the attacking third resulted in a tap in finish from Nathan Brock. The ball was passed among four players across the face of goal: from forward Louie Perez, to Brock, to forward Eliman Kane, and finally to forward Rasmus Svensson. Svensson powered a shot at the goalkeeper, who parried it straight into the path of Brock. The Newcastle, England product took advantage and scored his first goal this season (46:32).
 
Things then went from bad to worse for IWU. Svensson got through on goal off a searching pass froward from midfielder Matteo Uez and needed one touch to get past Tigers goalkeeper Alvaro Morera. They met at the top of the penalty area and Morera made the mistake of handling the ball just outside of the 18-yard box, denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity for Svensson and resulting in a red card for Morera (59:49). IWU would play the remainder of regulation down a man with little chance of coming back.
 
Svensson would get his goal soon after, with Brock turning provider this time. MBU moved the possession from the defense to the attack cleanly. Substitute Seosamh Sheerin made a nifty move on the right flank and a passed it into the path of Brock in the box. Brock made the easy chip in for Svensson past the goalkeeper, who found himself alone in front of the net to score his third this campaign (65:28).
 
"[It was] good to get back home and get the win today," head coach Jake Alvernia said. "Iowa Wesleyan have good players and we needed to be ready for them today. We'll enjoy this for the next few minutes and get ready for a huge game against Williams Baptist."
 
Although it is early in conference play, the game with newly ranked No. 18 Williams Baptist could very well decide part of the standings at the top half of the American Midwest Conference come the end of the season, and therefore could mean the difference of hosting an AMC semifinal tournament game or not. MoBap currently find themselves locked in a battle for second with Hannibal-Lagrange University, No. 20 Columbia College, and Lyon College. One point behind Williams Baptist and Central Baptist.
 
"[Williams Baptist] are coming off a huge win [against Columbia] and it should be a good game," Alvernia said.
 
Missouri Baptist will honor the seniors of the team as part of Senior Night festivities before the battle with the Eagles at Spartan Field on Saturday, Oct. 8th at 7 p.m.