ELSAH, IL – The Principia men's soccer team turned in their best performance of the season on Saturday when they hosted Eureka College for their first conference home game. A dominant first half put the Panthers ahead 4-0 at the break, and they closed the game out strong for a 5-0 victory.
Senior
Jonathan Keller put Principia on the board immediately in the first 30 seconds of the match. Fellow senior
Diego Alas intercepted a pass sending Keller streaking up the middle, and Keller fired the ball into the left corner for his second goal of the season. Keller didn't have to wait long for his third goal of the season as he received a long pass from defender
Michael Wanda in the 22nd minute and again used his speed to run past the defense and slot the ball home past the charging keeper.
Diego Alas soon got in on the scoring for the Panthers in the 37th minute as he dribbled across the top of the box past multiple defenders and placed a perfect shot into the left corner for his first goal since his freshman year in 2022. Alas wasn't finished and matched Keller's two goals with a brace of his own with another incredible individual effort late in the second half. Again from outside the box, this time Alas used the opposite foot to send the ball into the right corner to cement the victory.
The other Principia goal came late in the first half on an outstanding free kick by freshman
Alejandro Liborio over the wall and past the diving goalie. Panther goalies
Rafa Ascencio Garcia and
Edgar Cartagena each played one half and combined for a clean sheet with three total saves.
The Panthers have saved their best play for conference thus far as they have now outscored SLIAC opponents 10-1 in two matches. They will look to remain unbeaten when they face a tough road test against Webster next Saturday. The match will be played at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in St. Louis and will kick off at 3:30 PM.
