GREENSBURG, PA. – The Roberts Wesleyan University men's soccer team prides itself on getting off to a good start in each game.
The Redhawks got off to a great start on Wednesday afternoon, scoring four goals in the first 29 minutes while rolling to a 5-0 non-conference victory over Seton Hill University.
Senior Dylan Ruiz led Roberts (3-3-1, 0-0-1 East Coast Conference) with two goals. Junior Tamas Nagy contributed a goal and two assists and senior Hunter Salisbury and junior Justin Robertson both added goals. Senior co-captain Marc-Anthony Blackburn added two assists and senior Ollie Ardle registered one.
"When you get off to a good start like that, it kind of changes the whole dynamic of the game," Roberts coach Scott Reber said. "If you go up early in a game, it forces the other team to respond and that is not easy to do."
Robertson opened the scoring for Roberts, taking a through-ball from Blackburn and finishing with a left-footed shot for his third goal of the season at 5:21.
Nagy scored his third goal in two games, taking a long pass from Ardle and depositing the ball in the right corner of the net at 11:52.
"When you move the ball around and move without the ball, it creates those gaps and seams and the guys did a good job of finding those today," Reber said.
The Redhawks took advantage of a failed clearing attempt for their third goal. Blackburn got under a Seton Hill goal kick at midfield and headed it forward to Nagy, who nodded the ball to Ruiz. Ruiz gathered the ball at the top of the box and sent a shot into the right corner at 12:55.
Ruiz scored his fourth goal in two games and sixth of the season on a penalty kick at 28:43.
Roberts placed five shots on goal in the first half and scored on four of them, while Redhawks' keeper Jared Gibbons stopped all four shots that he faced. Gibbons finished with seven saves to register his second clean sheet of the season.
Senior Hunter Salisbury took a cross from Nagy and closed the scoring from 15 yards out for his first career goal 6:10 into the second half.
"That was great to see," Reber said. "Hunter has been with us for a while and it is nice to see him get his name on the scoresheet."
Roberts returns to action for an ECC match at the University of the District of Columbia at noon on Saturday.