Regional Rampage

LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- After dominating play from start to finish, the Sabercats took a 4-0 win over Faith Baptist Bible College to stay perfect in NCCAA regional play.

Tyler Nelson, Joel Shepard, Asa St. Lawrence, and Zeke Steuerwald all hit the target for the Sabercats, who completed their second win of the season and their sixth all-time against the Eagles.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 4-0 Faith
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 109
• Records: MBU (2-3-0), FBBC (2-3-0)

STORY

It took the Sabercats quite a while to see their pressure pay off, but they finally broke through the Faith defense through the left foot of Nelson. After some sharp passing from MBU, St. Lawrence slipped the ball to Nelson, who hit a one-time shot from the top of the box that nestled into the bottom corner to give Maranatha the advantage.

From there, the floodgates seemed to open, as the Sabercats went on to score two more goals before the halftime break. Nelson sent in a corner kick to Shepard, who headed home his second goal of the season in the 41st minute, and two minutes later, St. Lawrence scored his second goal in as many games. The senior captain pulled off a tidy move at the top of the box to beat a Faith defender before firing a left-footed shot that beat Jason Conable at the near post to increase the lead to three.

The Eagles tightened up their defense in the second half, but the Sabercats still found a way to break through. Once again, the goal came off a corner kick, as Steuerwald headed in a cross from St. Lawrence for the final goal of the game.

Late on, Kendall Elms and Garrett Gleason both made appearances, marking their first games in Blue and Gold. In net, Tim Kinzler was credited with the win and made six saves to keep the clean sheet.

MBU Starters: 1- Kinzler, 4- Roer, 5- Sturgill, 7- Nelson, 8- Campbell, 10- St. Lawrence (C), 11- DeAngelo (C), 12- Steuerwald, 14- Ice, 15- J. Hockema, 18- Shepard

STATS

• Shot count: Maranatha 27-6 Faith
• St. Lawrence: 2 goals in 2 games, notched 2 assists
• Nelson, Shepard: Second goal this season
• Steuerwald: 4 shots on goal
• Last year: Maranatha beat Faith 2-0 and 3-0
• Series: Maranatha now leads the series, 6-1-0

OPPONENTS

• Faith competes with the Sabercats in the NCCAA North Region
• The Eagles also compete in the Midwest Christian College Conference
• FBBC will have 11 NCCAA games during their regular season

NEXT

The Sabercats will continue their home stand with a clash with the Lakeland Muskies at 4:00 p.m. Thursday. Watch live at mbusabercats.com/schedule.