SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team Friday opened the Tudor Flintham era with a decisive 4-1 victory over Presentation at the Gustie Soccer Field. Arthur Parens (Sr., Wayzata, Minn.) tallied two goals and Scott Heinen (So., Aurora, Ill.) posted his first career three-assist match to lead the offense, while the team outshot the visitors by 17.
“Any time you outshoot a team 22-5 you’ll take that, but the reality is that our guys know that we have a lot to work on,” Flintham said. “We had 61 percent of the possession, but our pass completion rate was only 67 percent because we couldn’t quite figure out our timing with the final run and pass. The lads need to figure that piece out. However, there are also some massive positives to come out of the game. We played 13 underclassmen, with two of our goals and four of the assists coming from that group.”
After 31 minutes of scoreless soccer, Parens sent a pass from Heinen into the back of the net for the game’s first goal and the score remained 1-0 at halftime. The Gusties outshot the Saints 11-2 in the opening 45 minutes.
Four minutes into the second half, Trace Dobson (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.) scored his first goal in Black and Gold after a shot rebounded to Heinen, who found Dobson for an open-net shot. Five minutes later, Heinen connected with Shiferaw Williamson (Fy., St. Paul, Minn.) on a breakaway, who finished for his first career goal. Parens then closed out the Gustie scoring in the 70th minute on a breakaway pass from Will Richards (Jr., Hudson, Wis.).
Presentation scored a late goal with 1:26 remaining for the 4-1 final.
The Gusties outshot the Saints 22-5 as Matt Bateman (Sr., Savage, Minn.) made three saves in goal for the home squad.
“We had some good performances overall so it’s tough to single out any one player, but along with the young guys who showed well, I thought that Dan Barnes (Sr., Lund, Sweden) gave us some real stability in the midfield,” Flintham said. “Our wingbacks looked dangerous and played with real attacking intent, and then needless to say Arthur and Scotty where at the heart of almost everything dangerous.”
Gustavus returns to the pitch Wednesday as it hosts Martin Luther at 4:30 p.m.