ROLLA, Mo. – A fast start helped Missouri S&T's men's soccer team build a three-goal lead in the first half of play Sunday and it proved to be enough to withstand Maryville's assault on the Miner end in the final 45 minutes in a
3-1 win at the S&T Soccer Field.
The Miners wasted little time in putting home the first two goals of the contest, as
Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) scored in the fourth minute off an assist from
Unnar Ulfarsson (Gardabaer, Iceland/Fjolnir Reykjavik) and just 1:15 later,
Will McIntyre (Queenstown, New Zealand) got the ball away from the Saints and beat goalkeeper Christian Kjaersgaard to give S&T a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
It marked the first time – at least in records dating back to the 1994 season – in which the Miners scored twice in the first five minutes of play in a game.
Before the first half ended, the Miners got a third goal, which came off the foot of
Riley Windsor (Delaware, OH/Worthington Christian) as he redirected a pass from Ulfarsson by Kjaersgaard in the 26
th minute to make it 3-0.
The Miners had a 7-5 advantage in shots in the first 45 minutes before the scales tilted heavily in favor of the Saints after the intermission.
Maryville pushed the tempo of play into the Miners' end of the field right from the outset in the second half and after several opportunities, got on the scoreboard in the 66
th minute on Joergen Pettersen's goal. But despite having a 16-3 advantage in shots and seven corner kick chances in the second half – with the bulk of the corner kicks coming in the final 10 minutes – the Miners were able to hold Maryville (5-5, 2-5 GLVC) off the scoreboard after Pettersen's tally.
Aaron Hohenstein (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South) made six saves in goal for the Miners, who improved to 5-1-4 overall and 4-0-3 in the GLVC; the weekend sweep of the St. Louis County schools vaulted S&T into third place in the GLVC standings behind No. 1-ranked Rockhurst and Southern Indiana.
The Miners will head to the road next weekend for a pair of contests, beginning with Friday's 7:30 p.m. game against McKendree in Lebanon, Ill.
