Bruins score early, often in 4-1 rout of Midland

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Travis Hurd scored a pair of goals to lead the #11 Bellevue University men's soccer team past Midland University 4-1 on Wednesday evening at Faiman Field on the campus of Bellevue West High School.

Records:

#11 Bellevue: 11-0-2
Midland: 5-4-0

Recap:

BU scored three first half goals, dominating the beginning and end of each half as they dispatched a physical Midland side 4-1.

The Bruins got off to a strong start, scoring in the game's first minute. A misplayed back pass by a Midland defender was pounced upon by Renato Silva who chipped the keeper for his seventh goal to put BU up 1-0 just 51 seconds into the match.

Aboubakar Tchalombo doubled the Bruin lead in the 31^st minute with his second goal of the year. Yago Ramos played a cross into the box from the wing that Tchalombo settled and tucked inside the far post.

Travis Hurd ended the period in a similar fashion to the way it started for Bellevue, scoring in the 45^th minute. Emil Gebelhoff played Hurd in behind the defense and Hurd beat the keeper one-on-one to give the home side a 3-0 lead with just 54 seconds before halftime.

Midland got a goal back when Anudan Thapa won a scramble in the box and one-timed the bouncing ball, with the keeper on the ground and out of the play, into the back of the net.

AJ Jarvis made two saves in goal for the Bruins. His biggest stop came in the 78^th minute when he turned Thapa's attempt over the crossbar to keep Bellevue up by two goals.

Hurd put the game away with an 89^th minute strike. After making a long sprint on a ball played by Marvin Ramirez, Hurd deked the Warrior keeper and tapped home his second goal of the match.

Midland's Jack Hughes also made a pair of stops in goal for the Warriors in just his second appearance of the season.

For the game Bellevue doubled up Midland on both shots (16-8) and shots on goal (6-3) while corner kicks were even at six aside.

Man of the Match:

Travis Hurd – In addition to scoring a pair of goals, he led several dangerous attacks with his passing and runs through the midfield. Also drew the red card that effectively ended Midland's comeback bid.

Coach Mark Heath-Preston:

"We knew Midland would be one of our biggest tests this season so we're really happy that we got a good result. Midland had a fair amount of the ball but we stuck to our plan and defended well and finished the chances when we had them."

"AJ Jarvis has been very consistent this season and made a great save towards the end to keep them to one goal."

"We have a two week break now which will give us time to get players fit and healthy as well as time to train and improve."

Up Next:

After a grueling 13 matches in 41 days Bellevue will take a well-deserved break with a 17-day layoff until their next match. Then, on Saturday, Oct. 13 the Bruins will take on Waldorf University at 3 p.m. at Bolstorff Field in Forest City, Iowa.

Notes:

• Bellevue moved up one spot to No. 11 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll which came out Tuesday afternoon.
• The four goals by Bellevue were the most the Bruins have scored against Midland, matching their out-put in a 4-0 victory on Oct. 7, 2004.
• BU has run their program-best unbeaten streak to 18 games now.
• Bellevue has out-scored their opposition 20-2 over the course of their last five games.