Box Score (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – Nine different Saints found the back of the net as the Thomas More College men's soccer team defeated Bethany College, 9-0, today (Saturday, October 4, 2014) in both teams' Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
With the win, the Saints improve to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in the PAC. With the loss, the Bison fall to 1-9 overall and 0-1 in the PAC.
Thomas More took a 1-0 lead at the 19:35 mark when senior midfielder Christopher Lehan (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) scored off a cross from sophomore midfielder RJ Best (Lorton, Va./South County Secondary). Junior forward Austin Juniet (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) scored unassisted at the 20:07 mark to increase the lead to 2-0. Thomas More extended the lead to 3-0 at the 22:29 mark when senior forward Kyle Troutman (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) scored off a Juniet cross. Thomas More led 4-0 at halftime as senior defender Alex Dean (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) scored off an assist from freshman midfielder Eli Nienaber (LaGrange, Ky./Bishop Brossart) at the 39:37 mark.
Sophomore defender Tim Knauer (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) increased the Saints' lead to 5-0 at the 55:02 mark when he scored unassisted. Thomas More extended the lead to 6-0 at the 70:31 mark when sophomore forward Brian Runyon (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) scored unassisted. Senior forward Jake Plummer (North Olmsted, Ohio/Hearts of Jesus Christ-Corpus Christi) gave the Saints a 7-0 lead when he found the back of the net off a Nienaber cross. Thomas More increased the lead to 8-0 at the 81:43 mark when freshman forward Sam Lewis (Stawell, England/Crispin School) scored off an assist from freshman midfielder Brandon Shapiro (Mason, Ohio/Mason). Thomas More closed out the scoring at the 83:48 mark when sophomore midfielder Matthew Spanyer (Lexington, Ky./Paul Dunbar) off a Lewis assist for the final score of 9-0.
Senior goalkeeper Matt Kees (Covington, Ky./Scott) earned the shutout win as he played all 90 minutes in goal.
Thomas More out-shot Bethany, 22-1, including 13-0 on-goal and won the battle of corner kicks, 7-1.
The Saints return to action on Thursday (October 9) when they travel to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania to play Geneva College. The PAC match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
