The No. 17 ranked Lindenwood men's soccer team defeated the Southwest Baptist Bearcats by a score of 5-0 on Thursday evening from Plaster Stadium in Bolivar, Mo. The victory extended the Lions' unbeaten streak to 10 games, including nine consecutive wins.
After 6:43 of scoreless play to open the match,
Nijaz Muratovic broke the scoreless tie, sending Lindenwood ahead by a score of 1-0.
Kyle Weinrich, who sprung Muratovic free with a long lead pass, was credited with the assist on Muratovic's fourth goal of the season.
Lindenwood grew its lead to a two-goal margin in the 38th minute, courtesy of an
Xhovani Dokaj penalty-kick goal. Dokaj's penalty-kick score brought his MIAA-leading goal total to 13. With the goal, Dokaj has now scored in nine of Lindenwood's 14 games this season.
In the final seconds before halftime,
Ingram Tolish helped Lindenwood add to its lead, scoring for the first time this season.
Adnan Mahmutovic assisted on Tolish's score, as the Lions built a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Lindenwood lead held at three goals into the 71st minute of play. At the 70:40 mark of the second half,
Gaspar Alvarez notched his second goal of the season, bringing the score to 4-0 in favor of the Lions.
Mandlenkosi Seremani tallied an assist on the play, his first-career point.
The duo of Alvarez and Seremani connected again in the 88th minute, as Seremani again assisted on an Alvarez score. The goal put Lindenwood ahead by the eventual final of 5-0.
Aleksa Nenadic and
Tim Licht split time in goal for Lindenwood. Nenadic made the start, and was credited with his 10th win of the season.
In the end, the Lions held the edge in shots (34-1), shots on goal (14-0), and corner kicks (12-1).
With the victory, Lindenwood improves its season record to 10-2-2 and 5-0-0 in conference action. Following the loss, Southwest Baptist moves to 0-12-2 and 0-4-0 from within the MIAA. The Lions will return to action in Tahlequah, Okla. on Saturday afternoon for a conference clash with the Northeastern RiverHawks. Game time is set for 11:00 a.m. at DeLoache Field.
