ATHENS, Tenn. – The Truett McConnell University Bears (4-1-2 overall, 3-0 AAC) handed the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs (4-3-1 overall, 3-1 conference) their first conference loss of the season on Wednesday as TMU claimed their third straight conference win in as many games with a 3-1 final score.
The result marks the third straight meeting between the Bulldogs and Bears in which the latter has emerged victorious. Truett McConnell also extended their unanswered scoring streak to 22 goals across five matches before conceding just before the final whistle.
TMU men's soccer has scored within the first 13 minutes in all but one match so far this season, and that trend continued today as
Roman Reynolds collected a header goal off a corner kick from
Carlos Ruiz in the 11
th minute to open scoring.
Jovica Lazarevic followed in the 52
nd minute, beating the Bulldogs keeper on a 1-on-1 interaction to claim his first game winner of the year. 28 minutes later, Reynolds and Ruiz returned favors from the opening goal with a Reynolds cross from near the corner flag that was finished by Ruiz in the top of the net from 12 yards out to ensure the win.
The Bears defense's streak of games without conceding a goal finally came to a close Wednesday in the 88
th minute. Francesco Conti fired just the second shot to make its way past keeper
Jakob Hendrickson all season to spoil TMU's hopes of a fourth straight clean sheet. Despite this moment, Hendrickson still recorded three crucial saves keeping his season save percentage at an impressive 83%.
Truett McConnell is now one of four remaining undefeated teams in Appalachian Athletic Conference play. Pending tonight's results, they are slated to face the similarly unbeaten No. 19 Bulldogs of Union Commonwealth University at home on Saturday.
