GRAYSON, Ky.— Following the lead of the Montreat women's soccer team just a few hours prior, the Montreat men's soccer team utilized its first clean sheet of the season to sprint past the Kentucky Christian University Knights in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup Wednesday evening. Thanks to the 4-0 win in Grayson, Ky., the Cavaliers improved to 2-3-1 (1-0-1 AAC) on the year.
Coming off being named the AAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week,
Eric Eke continued his strong run of form early on Wednesday.
Alejandro Hernandez tapped a pass to Eke in the middle of the penalty area, and the Madrid, Spain native opened the scoring merely 7:56 into the game.
While the Cavs dominated the first frame, Eke's tally was the visitors' lone goal in the period. Montreat outshot Kentucky Christian (0-4-1, 0-3-0 AAC) through 45 minutes both overall (9-1) and on target (7-0). The Cavaliers also held a significant 7-0 edge in corner kicks.
Montreat blew the match wide open during the latter half.
Jeremy Villa-Osornio notched his third strike of the season in the 66
th minute, doubling his squad's lead in the process. Later,
Jose Solano set up
Felipe Pereira for his first goal in a Cav kit with just 9:11 remaining in regulation.
Finishing the contest like he started, Eke beat the KCU goalkeeper to capture his brace. Villa-Osornio assisted on the tally, and the Cavaliers closed out their first clean sheet of the season via a 4-0 final.
"This was a positive performance," said head coach
Michael Bruce. "I do not believe we played our best tonight, but we were able to show some quality, especially in the second half. We have had a positive start to conference play, and we hope to continue that next week."
Making his initial start in the Navy and Vegas Gold,
Christopher Hernandez stopped the Knights' lone shot on target during the game. The visitors registered more shots (21-2), shots on goal (5-1) and corner kicks (11-0) than their hosts through 90 minutes.
Montreat returns home next Wednesday to host Bluefield University in AAC play. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. at Pulliam Stadium in Black Mountain, N.C.
