The Gustavus men’s soccer team claimed a convincing 3-0 win over Saint Mary’s on a sunny fall afternoon in St. Peter on Wednesday. Brian Simons, Ben Ceder, and Doug Frey each scored a goal, while Luke Strom picked up the shutout in goal as the Gusties improved to 4-3-2 overall and 1-1-2 in conference play.
“I am pleased for the players,” stated coach Mike Middleton, “They deserved to be rewarded after playing well the last couple of matches and not seeing a positive result on the scoreboard.” Middleton added, “It was also nice for our defense to post another clean sheet. Luke (Strom) directed the lads nicely in goal, and Justin (Egleseder), Lucas (Thompson), and Evan (Odean) were nicely organized throughout the match.”
The Gusties led 1-0 at the break thanks to a goal by Brian Simon (the first of his collegiate career) in the 39th minute. Simon gathered a ball off a corner kick and slid it into the lower left corner past Cardinal goalkeeper Chris Williams.
Gustavus maintained its 1-0 advantage until the 80th minute when Doug Frey took the ball deep to the end line and dropped a pass to a streaking Ben Ceder at the top of the 18-yard line and Ceder one-timed a bullet past a defenseless Williams to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Gusties closed out the scoring four minutes later when Doug Frey intercepted a Cardinal pass near midfield and broke in alone on Cardinal keeper Williams. Frey pulled Williams out of the net and slipped a ball on the ground into the lower left corner at the 83:35 mark to make the final score 3-0.
Gustavus held a 19-5 advantage in shots and an 11-0 advantage in corner kicks. Luke Strom made three saves and claimed his second shutout of the season. Williams registered five saves for Saint Mary’s.
Gustavus will head to Northfield to face St. Olaf on Saturday at 1:00 pm before returning home to face Simpson in a non-conference match on Sunday at 4:00 pm. Saint Mary’s returns home to host Concordia on Saturday afternoon.