Parker Scores Two As Bruins Top Centenary 5-2 At Home
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Belmont men's soccer team (1-2-0) notched its first win of the season on Friday night, topping Centenary (0-2-0) by a score of 5-2 in first day action at the Mafiaoza's Invitational at the Whitten Soccer Complex. Senior Brett Parker led the Bruins with two goals in the victory, while junior Will Moorad and sophomore Brandon Tarr recorded one goal and one assist each.
"We earned it," Head Coach Earle Davidson said. "Each match we've done a little bit better and got a little more comfortable at playing the way we want to play. Today we saw a lot of things come together that we've really been working hard at. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys and that made a big difference for us."
Tarr got BU on the board first when junior Will Moorad crossed him a ball as he sprinted into the right side of the box. Tarr put it away off of one touch to give the Bruins the 1-0 lead less than three minutes into play. After plenty of non-scoring action, Parker increased the Belmont lead to two when he headed in a long cross from junior Edgardo Padilla to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute.
"It's great just to have a win and to put up five goals," Parker said. "We played hard for the entire 90 minutes and that was really good to see from our team."
Less than two minutes later Centenary made it 2-1 when Heath Cox scored on a long strike that just beat Bruin goalkeeper Juho Illi. Centenary led in shots (10-6) and corner kicks (4-3) at the break, but Belmont's Illi came up big with five saves in the opening frame to keep BU on top 2-1.
The Bruins continued the scoring in the second half, taking a 3-1 lead in the 62nd minute when Tarr handed out his first assist of the year, playing a long cross to junior Dan Meacock. The forward got up and headed it into the right side panel for his second score of the year.
After the Gents made it 3-2 in the 73rd minute on Cox's second score of the match, Moorad gave Belmont some insurance just over one minute later. The midfielder stole the ball from a Centenary defender and beat the keeper to make it 4-2.
Parker added the final tally when Padilla's cross off of a set piece found Parker's head to make it 5-2. It was the second of the night for parker, the second assist for Padilla, and the second goal-assist combination for the two players.
"We were trying to keep the ball and play our game," Padilla said on the win. "And it worked. We just have to keep the momentum going for Sunday."
No Bruin finished with more than three shots, as they focused on spreading the ball around. BU dominated the second period offensively, recording 11 shots to Centenary's five and recording the only corner of the half. Illi finished with a match high seven saves for Belmont.
Earlier in the day Lipscomb defeated Gardner-Webb by a score of 3-1. Belmont will play host to GWU in the second game of day two action on Sunday, September 12. The match is set for a 2:35 p.m. kickoff. Lipscomb and Centenary will square off at 12:05 p.m. in the first contest of the day.
