The No. 22 ranked Lindenwood men's soccer team defeated the Oakland City Mighty Oaks by a final score of 6-0 on Wednesday evening from Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.
The Lions dominated play to open the first half, outshooting the Mighty Oaks by a count of 13-1, including a nine to zero advantage in the shots on goal category. Lindenwood's efforts paid off in the 39th minute as an intended cross pass from
Nijaz Muratovic deflected off of an Oakland City defender, resulting in an own goal.
Lindenwood headed into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The Lions continued to apply pressure to begin the second half of play, resulting in three goals within the first nine minutes of the half.
Thomas Hutcheson registered all three goals for Lindenwood during the nine minute stretch, bringing his season total to eight goals.
Nikolas Kondic tallied the assist on Hutcheson's first score in the 48th minute, which put the Lions in front 2-0.
Assisting on Hutcheson's second score at the 53:13 mark of the second half was
Kyle Weinrich.
Just 46 seconds later,
Gabriel Jaimes and Weinrich recorded the helpers on Hutcheson's hat-trick goal, as Lindenwood extended its lead to 4-0.
Fernando Cordero helped the grow the Lindenwood lead to 5-0 in the 58th minute, with a powerful blast from 15 yards in front of the Oakland City net. The goal was the first of the season for Cordero.
The Lions' lead swelled to six goals in the 75th minute following a goal from
Amir Huskanovic. Huskanovic's second goal of the season was assisted by
Ingram Tolish.
Aleksa Nenadic and
Tim Licht split time in goal for Lindenwood, with Nenadic making the start. Nenadic turned in one save during his 73 minutes of play, while Licht made two saves.
In the end, Lindenwood held the advantage in shots (29-5), shots on goal (16-3), and corners (6-2). Oakland City held the edge in saves (10-3).
Following the non-conference victory, Lindenwood improved its season record to 8-2-2. With the loss, Oakland City moves its record to 2-8-0. The Lions will return to action in Hays, Kan. on Sunday afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. MIAA showdown with the No. 16 Fort Hays Tigers.
