Kansas City, Mo.— Mario Santoro's penalty kick launched a two-goal burst in 30 seconds as the University of Saint Mary (7-5-3) defeated Avila (MO) (2-14-1) 7-0 Wednesday, Oct. 21st, at Avila University in a rare noon kickoff.
Goalkeeper and last week's KCAC Soccer Defensive Player of the Week,
Xavier Ezell, kept the match scoreless through Avila's early pressure, stopping three shots from Snowden in the opening 15 minutes. The third came at 14:09, just over a minute before the Spires broke through. Ezell finished with six saves across 90 minutes, including five before halftime, to secure the shutout.
Santoro converted the penalty at 15:17 for what proved to be the winning goal, then assisted
Rylan Nowak's finish at 15:47 to make it 2-0. At 27:51, an assist from
Andrey Rincon set up
Luis Rincon for a three-goal advantage. Ezell preserved that halftime margin by stopping Sweet's shot at 36:46.
Joel Herrera extended the lead for USM one minute into the second half with an unassisted goal, and Santoro added another unassisted finish at 49:05. Rincon scored a second goal at 62:17 off an assist from
Matias Allou.
Henry Ibarguen completed the scoring with an unassisted goal at 85:08, giving the Spires five different goal scorers.
The Spires outshot the Eagles 25-10 and held a 20-6 advantage in shots on goal, forcing goalkeeper Mayer to make 13 saves. The Spires also earned four corner kicks to Avila's one. After allowing nine first-half shots, Saint Mary limited AU to one after the break, a Waldron attempt that Ezell saved at 69:24.
Santoro finished with two goals and an assist, while Rincon put all four shots on target. Nowak and Ibarguen each placed three of four attempts on goal. The victory moved the Spires to 6-3-1 in KCAC play, while Avila fell to 2-8-1. USM stands fifth in the KCAC with just three regular-season matches remaining before the conference opening round.
Coming Up…
USM will stay on the road this Saturday, October 24, as the Spires travel to Sterling, Kansas, to take on the Warriors. The men's match is set for 3 p.m. at Smisor Stadium.
