ST. LOUIS – With a fresh Top 25 ranking to its name, Missouri Baptist men's soccer marched into Alumni Recognition Night and its final home match of the early season homestand and came out on the other side with another healthy shutout victory to remain perfect on the season.
 
A wrench was thrown in the works before the ball even got rolling Saturday night, with lightning in the area pushing kickoff back from the planned 7 p.m. start time for over an hour. Despite the delay, No. 23 MBU (4-0) looked largely unfazed for much of its second win in a week by a 2-0 score line. Taylor (2-3-2) had its four-game unbeaten run snapped by the Spartans. The two MoBap goals came off the feet of freshman Marko Dordevic scoring for the second game running, bringing his season tally to three, and winger Louie Perez getting back on the scoresheet for the second after a bit of an off game against Governors State on Monday.
 
Both MoBap scores came in the first half. After a searching through ball forward by Matteo Uez was won back near the box by Dordevic, the product of Belgrade, Serbia, used a nifty heel chop to lose his defender and calmly slot it home (9:09) to the left of the Trojans goalkeeper.
 
Perez's goal at the tail end of the half was mostly the product of the pass that was given to him. After senior Nathan Brock found Eliman Kane on the near side, Kane played a through ball that could only be described as world-class between two defenders to a charging Perez. The senior made easy work to power it into the net with his left foot (37:21) for his team-leading sixth of the campaign. Perez is currently tied for sixth in the NAIA in goals and is tied for fifth in the nation in points accrued (15).
 
MBU can now lay claim to the first undefeated four-game stretch to begin a season since 2013, where they started 3-0-1, and the first where the Spartans have won every game in the first four tilts of a season to stay perfect since 2005 (as far back as the record books go).
 
The offense has brought the goals for MoBap (15 thus far), but the defense has been just as solid. Led by captain Nicolo Tossici and goalkeeper Callum McKinlay, with strong offensive contributions from center back Ross Wilson (two goals, two assists) and left back Jack Griffiths (one assist), the defensive unit for head coach Jake Alvernia's squad has only surrendered one goal and pitched three clean sheets. McKinlay now has 12 stops to his name and carries a 92.3 save percentage.
 
With four games under its belt at home, Missouri Baptist will now travel for its next four contests. The Spartans will head to the Volunteer State for the next two on the slate, with the first coming against University of Tennessee-Southern on Thursday, Sept. 15th at 5 p.m. in Pulaski, Tenn.