MARYVILLE – This winning thing has gotten contagious.
Maryville chalked up its third victory in the last eight days with a 2-0 triumph against Mount St. Joseph here Friday night on Day 1 of the MC Fall Invitational. The Scots scored twice in the second half to finally break through against their Cincinnati foes and climb above .500 for the first time all season.
"We've got a lot of mental fatigue right now and we were not quite as sharp in front of the goal, as you could see," Maryville head coach
Pepe Fernandez said. "This was our fifth game since last Thursday, and you can understand why we have some tired legs.
"But the effort we gave tonight was fantastic. We made a few adjustments in the second half, and we finally were able to get a couple of great goals."
Jace Burchfiel scored in the 63rd minute for his first goal of the season, and
Hyatt MacDonald tallied his team-leading fourth goal in the 77th minute to provide some breathing room.
Aidan McWilliams set up the first goal with a centering pass into the box.
Brooklyn Muccillo advanced it across the goal box and Burchfiel one-timed it home from about 7 yards out to break the ice.
Collin Combs got the second goal started with an outlet pass to
Grayson Dugan down the left wing. Dugan found MacDonald at the corner of the penalty area, and the Franklin first-year fired low and hard into the far netting for his second goal this week.
Alcaraz Keeps Clean Sheet
Fernandez to try and battle against that fatigue played 15 substitutes. He even started a different goalkeeper in
Christian Alcaraz, a sophomore who arrived this year from the junior college ranks.
And Alcaraz was solid, going the full 90 minutes and saving the only shot on goal Maryville's defense allowed.
"How about Christian getting a win in the first start of his Maryville College career!" Fernandez said. "Playing behind a fifth-year senior, he knows he must bide his time and make the most of his opportunities, and that's just what he did tonight.
"I'm really proud of him."
Maryville had the ball for 69 percent of ball possession, resulting in a 30-5 edge in shots and a 9-1 margin in shots on target. Corner kicks favored the Scots 16-2, but MSJ's Aaron Smith made seven saves to keep the Lions in the match.
After beginning the year with consecutive two-goal losses in St. Louis, the Scots are 3-0-2 since then and now 3-2-2 overall. Mount St. Joseph dropped to 1-4-0.
Maryville in Saturday's doubleheader takes on Averett, which defeated Covenant 1-0 in Friday's opener. Saturday's twin bill begins at 4 p.m., with the Scots taking the field against Averett at approximately 6 p.m.
