COLUMBIA, S.C.— The Montreat men's soccer team picked up its first road win of the season Wednesday night, utilizing an offensive outburst to cruise past the Columbia College Koalas by a 5-2 final. With the win in Columbia, S.C., the Cavaliers improved to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).
 
Columbia (0-4-1, 0-3) created the match's first chance on a long-range free kick, but Marius Braedstrup-Holm was up to the task and handled the Koala shot on a short hop for his lone save of the contest. From there, the Cavaliers' offense went to work.
 
Jacob Buchanan drew a penalty kick for Montreat in the 18^th minute when a Koala defender knocked him over during a Cavalier corner kick. At the penalty spot, Ricardo Araujo stepped up and sent the goalkeeper right while dragging his shot to the left for a 1-0 Montreat lead.
 
The Koalas pulled level with the Cavs in the 30^th minute thanks to an unmarked man on a set piece. Columbia tied the match at 1-1 with a right-footed volley, but the Cavaliers needed just three minutes to restore their one-goal advantage.
 
Off a throw-in in the attacking third, Ricardo Madan dribbled around the Columbia defense until he found a window of space. The Charlotte, N.C. native turned and squeezed a left-footed strike between the diving Koala goalkeeper and the near post to put Montreat back on top, 2-1, with 12:48 remaining prior to intermission; however, Montreat wasn't done there.
 
Just 47 seconds later, the Cavs grabbed their second goal of the 33^rd minute. Madan forced a turnover on the ensuing kickoff and made his way up Columbia's right flank. From there, Madan slid a pass to Araujo in the penalty area. Araujo needed just one dribble to his right to set up a shot, and the Lisbon, Portugal native netted a brace and his fourth goal of the year on a screamer across the face of goal into the left netting.
 
Along with a 3-1 lead, the Cavaliers also outpaced Columbia in shots (13-4), shots on goal (6-2) and corner kicks (3-0) through 45 minutes of action.
 
Jose Romero joined Madan and Araujo on the scoresheet by scoring his first Cavalier goal just 47 seconds into the second half. Andy Del Angel found Araujo when he looped a cross into the 18-yard box, and Araujo redirected the cross into Romero's path. The Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain native crushed a shot near the penalty spot past a hapless Koala keeper to put Cavs in front, 4-1.
 
Montreat's final tally of the night came just 74 seconds later when Madan became the second Cavalier to record a brace. Ethan Kerns surged up the right side into the attacking third and dumped a pass off to Madan. Dribbling to his left, Madan suddenly cut back to his right and created ample real estate at the top of the box. The upperclassman then wasted no time and launched a shot just under the crossbar, establishing a four-goal edge (5-1) a mere second into the 48^th minute.
 
Columbia pulled a goal back thanks to a penalty kick in the 73^rd minute, but by that point, the damage was done. The Cavaliers saw out the final 17 minutes and claimed their first road win of the season, 5-2. Montreat now owns a win at home, a neutral-site victory and a road triumph through seven matches.
 
"It was great to see some of our offensive players get on the scoresheet tonight," said head coach Michael Bruce. "Our team collectively worked hard for each other for most of the game. We look forward to carrying this momentum into the Milligan game on Saturday."
 
As a team, Montreat dominated Columbia across the board in most statistical categories, including 25-5 on shots taken, 11-3 on shots on goal and 11-0 on corner kicks.
 
The Montreat men's soccer team plays the second of its two road matches this week on Saturday at Milligan University. Kickoff is currently slated for 7:00 p.m.