Lacey, Wash. | It didn't take long for the Warner Pacific University Men's Soccer team (9-2-1, 5-1-1) to grab ahold of this game early, as the Knights handled the DII Saint Martin's University Saints (1-10, 0-4) on the road with ease and jump back into the win-column with a 4-1 victory.
It took only forty seconds for the Knights to strike first, as senior forward Arturo Bahena found fellow senior forward Hunter Leach in front of the goal between multiple defenders for him to sneak one by Saints' goalkeeper Bryce Porter. This wouldn't be the last time that Bahena and Leach would be connecting to score for Warner Pacific today, as senior defender Miguel Andalon-Ordaz would help out Bahena and both earn an assist for Leach's second goal of the day for the Knights.
In between Leach's goals, Saint Martin's got on the board with a long goal from midfielder Caden Martin. Scooting by Warner Pacific players left and right, Martin was able to place a perfectly shot ball over the head of Knights' goalkeeper Luis Hernandez from roughly 25-yards out, in what would be the only goal of the game for the Saints. Despite this, Hernandez picked up his second win of the season, improving to 2-1 for the Knights.
Consistency was key for the Knights today, as not even 33 seconds after Leach's second goal of the match, senior forward Brennan Murphy caught a Bahena cross right in front of the goal for Warner Pacific's third goal. This would prove to be Arturo's third assist of the day, which would qualify him for another statistical category to lead in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Not done yet on the offensive end yet, Bahena provided Warner Pacific with the fourth and final score by blowing past multiple Saints' defenders with his incredible speed and agility, and pushing it past Porter to notch his 12
th goal of the season and retake the lead in multiple offensive categories.
The Knights are back to conference play this weekend on the road in Washington, where they are set to take on the Northwest University Eagles and The Evergreen State College Geoducks at 12:30pm PST on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Northwest sits in the middle of the conference standings, while Evergreen is coming off of an impressive road win against Corban University.