ELSAH, ILL -- Principia men's soccer outplayed the Blackburn Beavers in a non-conference SLIAC matchup on Tuesday night at home to emerge with a 3-0 win. The win lifts the Panthers over .500 for the first time this season. The Panthers came out strong from the beginning of play and did a good job dictating the tempo of play early.
In the 7th minute
McGuire Semnacher began a play from the middle of the pitch breaking down a couple of Beavers before releasing a streaking
Colin Angle down the right flank. Angle's service into the box was met by an onrushing
Alan Cheatham whose sublime first touch set up his clinical left foot finish for his first goal of the season.
From that point on the Panthers continued to press and were rewarded again in the 17th minute when Semnacher found a ball at the top of the box, turned on a defender and dialed in a shot that glanced off the keepers hands into the left corner of the net to give the Panthers a comfortable 2-0 lead that they would take into half time.
The second half saw much of the same, but the decisive blow did not come until the 73rd minute off a corner kick by
Patrick Harber who made no mistake bending the ball like "Beckham" into the net to seal the deal.
Samuel Thomas and the defensive unit did well to earn the 4th shutout of the season. The Panthers now get ready for a quick road trip to St. Louis to face Washington University on Thursday night. The Bears are ranked #15 in the nation and #2 in the central region and should be a tough foe with kickoff slated for 7:00 PM.
