BLUEFIELD, Va.— The Montreat men's soccer team traveled to Bluefield University Wednesday night and earned a 4-0 shutout victory, improving to 6-6 overall and 5-4 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play.
 
In the 13^th minute, the Cavaliers won possession in the attacking third and made the Rams immediately pay. Carlos Hernandez stepped up and laid a ball off to Ricardo Araujo, who took a touch to settle the ball before blasting a right-footed shot across his body and into the left-side netting.
 
Montreat doubled its advantage only 2:17 later as Rodrigo Jimenez found himself sprinting down the left-hand flank. The second-year freshman squared a ball along the ground that was tapped in by Araujo for his second tally of the night.
 
The three Cavaliers who combined for the opening two goals utilized a precise passing play to build the road team's lead to three in the 24^th minute. Araujo sent a perfectly-weighted through ball toward the right side of the penalty box to a streaking Hernandez. The Madrid, Spain native immediately crossed a pass to Jimenez, who finished into the gaping net on his first touch.
 
At the half, Montreat led in numerous statistical categories thanks to the three-goal first period. The Cavs outshot the Rams 6-3, while converting on all three shots on frame. After controlling most of the possession in the initial 45 minutes, the Cavaliers notched five corner kicks to Bluefield's three.
 
Despite the 3-0 lead, Montreat was not content and kept pushing for more offensively. The pressure resulted in a plethora of corner kicks and shots toward the Bluefield goal; however, the Cavaliers failed to find a fourth until late in the contest.
 
With just over four minutes left in the competition, Jimenez utilized a counterattacking chance to net his second goal of the night. Jimenez stopped his run at the top of the box and fired a shot that eluded the Bluefield keeper and dipped under the crossbar.
 
Overall, the Cavaliers registered 15 shots, nine more than their opposition, while Jesus Ramos recorded three saves to secure the team's second clean sheet of the season.
 
"Our guys fought hard tonight to pull out this win. I am very happy with the performance and hope we can take the positivity into Saturday's game," said head coach Michael Bruce.
 
Men's soccer attempts to string together wins when the team plays at Point University on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.