LAREDO, Texas -- No. 22 Midwestern State dominated another foe from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Saturday afternoon at steamy Dustdevil Soccer Field.
Junior striker
Mere Escobar notched his fourth collegiate brace following goals by
Rory Doyle and
Brandon Martinez-Trelles as the Mustangs buried Regis (Colo.) 4-0.
"It was a good win," MSU coach
Michael Meachum said. "When you win games against in-region opponents, it is massive for your ranking. Those are points they can't take away. That's why we try to play the best teams we can."
The Rangers (1-1) kept numbers behind the ball to attempt to hit Midwestern State on counter-attacks, but the Mustangs didn't allow any room to operate.
"They set pretty deep for long periods of time," Meachum said. "We just took their energy away and getting off to a good start was crucial. We did that and just took the wind out of their sails."
Doyle struck first for the Mustangs when he tapped in a serve across the front of the goal by junior
Sulahmana Bah, who worked a combination on the wing then tipped his shoulder to get to the end line in the 38th minute.
Martinez-Trelles posted MSU to a two-goal advantage in the third minute of the second half working his way to an opening in the wide area and beat the keeper to the far post for his second goal of the season.
Escobar rattled off two scores in the space of three minutes on nearly identical moves.
The junior from Austin worked to the end line, cut the ball back, and shifted past a defender to bury the ball in the top corner of the near post in the 64th minute, then sent the ball to the far post in the 66th minute to give the Mustangs the 4-0 edge.
The Mustangs' constant pressure never allowed Regis to get forward as the Rangers managed to take just two shots - both in the first half.
The win came on the heels of a 3-2 win over No. 9-ranked Colorado Mesa on Friday.
"We were good today," Meachum said. "It was good to play against two really good RMAC schools. Those teams are going to win a lot of games."
Midwestern State takes on unbeaten Rogers State Thursday night at Soldier Field in Claremore, Oklahoma. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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-- MSUMustangs.com --