ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Union men’s soccer completed its Arkansas swing and moved to 2-0-0 on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat of Ouachita Baptist in Arkadephia.
The win extends the Bulldogs’ unbeaten streak against the Tigers to seven (6W, 1D). On aggregate, goals have been 15-3 to Union since 2017.
In minute 13, sophomore Ashanie Kennedy found the net for his second time of the young season to open the game’s scoring. After receiving a forward ball from Kenny Nitzsche into the right side of the box, he sent an urgent one-touch shot around a charging keeper and into the bottom-left corner. Kennedy, the winner of two GSC Freshman of the Week awards last season, contributed the third Union goal in Thursday’s contest at Harding.
Though Kennedy’s strike was all the Bulldogs would need, they weren’t yet finished. Instead, Union added two rounds of second-half insurance via aerial setups.
Chilean transfer Diego Medina potted his first of the year at 57′ when he headed a Noel Pataki cross from the left side off the keeper’s gloves and just inside the left post.
Seven minutes later, Union made it three scores for the second-straight game. In collecting his second assist of the match, Pataki sent a corner into the box, where the skull of defender Jamie Chamberlain sealed Ouachita’s fate and the final score. Again, this ball appeared to glance off the keeper’s fingers before reaching its destination.
Saturday’s box score wasn’t as lopsided as the scoreboard indicated: Union led in shots just 8-7 and shots on goal only 5-3. Indeed, Ouachita (0-2-0) won six corners to Union’s four, but no Tiger attempt could negotiate Union’s back line and Tommy Scahill. The Irish keeper made three saves en route to his first collegiate clean sheet.
Through two matches, Union has scored six goals and conceded one.
The Bulldogs will look to keep their hot, stingy start rolling when hosting Missouri-St. Louis on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Admission is complimentary as a courtesy of FirstBank.
