SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 10 ranked Spring Arbor University men's soccer team tallied four goals in its home opener Monday night, defeating visiting Alma College 4-0 in front of an electric crowd at the Cougar Soccer Complex.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: No. 10 Spring Arbor 4, Alma 0

LOCATION: Cougar Soccer Complex | Spring Arbor, Mich.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 2-0-0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior Jacob Crull put the crowd on its feet early, scoring in the eighth minute with a blistering shot off a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box that beat the Alma goalkeeper high to the far post.
• Spring Arbor took the 1-0 lead into halftime, but erupted for three goals over the final 45 minutes. Cole Russell and Josh Fines picked up their first markers of the season less than seven minutes into the second half. Then, with the clock winding down, sophomore Ben Besteman notched his first career goal off an assist from freshman Sawyer Watterson.
• The Cougars collected 17 shots while limiting the Scots to three.
• Goalkeeper Christopher Banfi stopped both shots he faced to record the shutout.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• First-year Spring Arbor head coach Josh Oakley picked up the win over his former team. Prior to his arrival at SAU, Oakley spent eight seasons at the helm of the Alma program.
• The shutout was the second straight for the Cougars, marking the first time SAU has started a season with back-to-back shutouts in more than 13 years.

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor hosts No. 19 Olivet Nazarene University in a Top 25 showdown on Friday, Aug. 30 starting at 7 p.m.

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