In its regular season opener, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team scored six first half goals in route to a 9-0 victory over Anderson University (Ind.) on Friday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
The Purple Aces opened the match with an early goal in the 11th minute as senior Ian McGrath scored off an assist by sophomore Simon Waever. 10 minutes later, UE added another goal as junior Caleb Williams received a pass from senior Arlick Ntabana and provided the Aces with a 2-0 advantage.
In the final eight minutes of the opening half, the Aces exploded for four goals. Freshman Adam Snow started the run with his first collegiate goal in the 38th minute, followed by a goal by junior Zac Blaydes in the 42nd minute.
Snow continued his strong start to his collegiate career with another goal just 22 seconds after Blaydes’ goal that gave the Aces a 5-0 lead. The hat trick is the first for the Aces since Mike Luttrull scored three times in the opening half against Alabama A&M on September 10, 2010.
With just 10 seconds left in the first half, Snow received a cross from fellow freshman Sam Bonano and headed it into the back of the net to complete his first half hat trick and put UE up 6-0 at the halftime break.
In the second half, Bonano took control, scoring his first collegiate goal and dishing out three more assists as the Aces scored three more times to capture a 9-0 victory.
Snow led the way with his hat trick, while Bonano tallied six points on a goal and four assists. McGrath helped power the Aces in the first half with a goal and two assists, playing just 45 minutes in the win. Senior goalkeeper Matthew Keller kept a clean sheet for the second-straight match as he kept the Ravens off the scoreboard in 55 minutes between the posts.
UE out-shot the Ravens, 46-1, with 29 of the Aces shots on-goal.
“We worked on some things from the IUPUI game. I didn’t think we were taking enough space, finding balls in the midfield, and playing through the lines and we were able to do that early this evening and keep the ball moving,” said UE men’s soccer head coach Marshall Ray. “Most importantly we kept everyone healthy and got guys a lot of minutes tonight which was good for us.”
The nine goals are the most by the Aces since UE scored a 9-0 victory over Alabama A&M on September 10, 2010.
The Aces travel east for their first road match of the season on Sunday for a matchup with Marshall at 3 p.m. in Huntington, West Virginia.
