SILOAM SPRINGS -- Sporting a pair of goals in each half, No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan controlled the contest and handed the John Brown University men's soccer team a 4-0 loss on Tuesday (Sept. 14) afternoon at Alumni Field.
OKWU (3-1-0) opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Lucas Mauro's header in the box broke the 0-0 stalemate and handed the visitors a 1-0 lead. Stefan Lukic's chip to the middle of the box jump-started the play.
Fourteen minutes later, Luka Pekovic ripped a shot from inside the box off a Golden Eagle defender and inside the near post to double Wesleyan's advantage. Jean-Mikael Ngandu laid off the pass from the goal line, allowing Pekovic to rip a one-touch.
Victor Crispim's corner service in the 63rd set the ball on a platter for Alfeu Bertini to tap in a goal at the back post to widen the OKWU advantage to 3-0. Four minutes later, Mauro tallied his second of the match when he finished off a beautiful passing play that began with Lukic in the midfield. After playing the ball to the right wing, Edgar Rissi Osuna's ball back through the box on the floor found Mauro crashing the goal.
The Golden Eagles (2-3-0) were out-shot, 16-5, but freshman keeper Kyle Hix played valiantly, posting five saves on nine Wesleyan attempts on target, but was still dinged with the loss. Matija Gligorovic needed to make just two saves between the two posts for the visitors, which rebounded after a 3-2 home-opening defeat to Baker (Kan.).
John Brown was shutout for the first time since a 2-0 loss to open the 2020 season (15 games) back on Feb. 23, 2021.
JBU will now rest and take on another top-25 opponent in Bethel (Tenn.) on Saturday (Sept. 18). The match is scheduled to air on the SAC Sports Network, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
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