GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Washington University in St. Louis men's soccer team finished a three-game road trip with a visit to the Land of Lincoln to take on the Greenville Panthers in a midweek game on Wednesday evening. The Bears improved to 3-1-1 with a 5-0 win over Greenville.
The Bears controlled the ball for entire first half, taking 11 shots while not allowing Greenville to get any shots off in the opening 45 minutes of the contest. On just the second shot by the Bears, junior Zach Susee took a short pass from both sophomore Nik Avillo and junior Tyler Allred and fired the first goal of the game past the Panther keeper for the 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.
Just 14 minutes later graduate Jesus Tadeo substituted in and immediately took a far corner kick from the right side. A direct arching kick to the head of junior Nathan Szpak found the back of the net as the Bears took a 2-0 lead at 34:24.
With less than four minutes left in the half, Avillo dribbled past the Greenville defender and scored the Bears third goal of the contest. The addition to the scoreboard put WashU up 3-0 as the teams took their 15-minute halftime break.
It did not take long in the second half before the Bears offense once again took over. On a corner kick attempt in the 51st minute, the Bears were fouled inside the box, giving Tadeo a penalty kick attempt. Making the most of the opportunity, he easily tapped the ball to the right side, passed the diving goalie for the 4-0 lead at 51:09.
Tadeo was not done for the night as just four and half minutes later, he found junior Owen Deming just inside the box, who fired a goal to the back of the net to add one more to the WashU side of the scoreboard, 5-0.
It was not until the 81st minute before the Panthers were able to attempt their first of three shots on the night, none on goal as sophomore goalie Owen Ross did not have to make a single save while playing all 90 minutes for his first win of the season. In 135 minutes this season, Ross has not allowed a goal while needing to make just one save.
WashU led the Panthers in shots (19-3), shots on goal (11-0), and corner kicks (16-0).
The Bears will return home this Saturday, September 14 when they host Webster at 7 p.m. as WashU sponsors Neighbors and Youth Night at Francis Olympic Field.
