BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. — It was a beautiful day at Pulliam Stadium as the Montreat men's soccer team faced off with the Kentucky Christian University Knights Wednesday afternoon. Lots of teamwork took place as a great first half put the Cavs in a good spot to claim their first victory of the season and control play throughout the match. The Cavaliers moved to 1-3-1 overall and 1-1 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) action with a 9-2 victory. 

An early celebration of the match happened as Rodrigo Jimenez struck his first goal of the season off a corner kick from Miodrag Bankovic just two minutes in. Doubling the lead, Alex Klymenko, a freshman from Volnovakha, Ukraine, scored his very first goal as a Cavalier assisted by Ayden Krause only 51 seconds later. With a 2-0 lead against the Knights, junior Brian Eke gave Montreat another goal with help from Krause and Jimenez as the first half ended with a 3-0 edge. 

The Cavaliers sat on top with advantages in most statistical categories at the break, including shots (19-1), shots on goal (9-1) and corner kicks (6-0). 

A strong second period allowed the Cavs to build on their lead. Jimenez came up with another goal towards the center of the penalty box in the 52nd minute. KCU then scored a pair on the Cavaliers, but it didn't deter Montreat's offense. The Cavs settled into the contest and began to hold possession as well as put opportunities toward the Knights' net as they managed to add five more goals to the board. 

Momentum built up for the Cavs as a goal was scored by freshman Jeremy Villa-Osornio, his first of the season, with a short pass by Marcos Santiago. Turning it back up, another attack was brought and Bankovic marked another goal. Montreat looked impressive as it continued to add more scores by Krause in the 79th minute, Santiago 37 seconds later and Villa-Osornio in the 83rd minute, bringing the score to 9-2. 

The comfortable victory for the Cavs resulted in 44 shots to the visiting squad's four. Montreat put 21 efforts on frame, while KCU notched four shots on goal. The Cavaliers also dominated the corner count, 11-0.  

"It's a big relief. It's been a long time coming. We have had some positive performances, but today a lot more came together," said head coach Michael Bruce. "It was a good way to build into the next three or four games. We have a couple of conference games coming up and really hope to build some momentum before we play Reinhardt at home again in a couple of weeks."  

Catch the next men's soccer competition against Toccoa Falls College held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 in Toccoa Falls, Ga.