SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team had an explosive 5-0 shutout win over the Central College Dutch in 70 minutes of play. With the win, the Gusties move to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
“The guys probably put together their best and most complete 45 minutes of soccer all season today in the first half against a Central Team who had been playing opponents extremely close this season,” said Head Coach Tudor Flintham. “We had been talking as a group that all we had been missing was that final piece and being ruthless in front of goal and we absolutely did that today. We got better as a team today and have some nice momentum heading into a tough conference stretch coming up.”
The Gusties were quick on the draw scoring two minutes into the opening half. Owen Johnson (So., Apple Valley) sent the ball in from a corner kick where it fell in front of Nick Leach (Sr., Sioux Falls) for a tap in first goal. Five minutes later Matthew Gibbons (Sr., Minneapolis) tacked on a second in the top right corner with a pass from the top of the box from Leach.
At the eighteen minute mark, Ethan Glissendorf (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) uncorked a shot from the top of the eighteen, launching it into the top right corner of the net for a highlight reel worthy goal.
The Gusties added a pair of insurance goals from Nick Katzman (Jr., Minneapolis) and Ethan Miller (Fy., St. Cloud), with both dishing out the assists in the process for a 5-0 lead in the first half. Additionally, Sam Just (So., Lakeville) and Yahya Bashir (Sr., Minneapolis) also recorded assists in the victory.
The match was struck with back to back lightning delays as both teams battled it out in a 25 minute condensed second half. Gustavus closed out the game outshooting the Dutch on goal 12-2. Wesley Sanders (Jr. Urbandale, Iowa) made the start and Egan Bedwell (Fy., Milwaukee) closed the remaining half.
Gustavus will return to conference play next Saturday when they travel to Concordia with a 4:30 kick-off.