LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It took a little while, but the final score did indeed reflect the level of dominance of the No. 21 Bellarmine University men's soccer team Sunday at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
Five different Knights registered goals as Bellarmine scored four times in the second half of a 5-1 steamrolling of archrival Southern Indiana in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
Junior midfielders
Micah Linscott and
Greg Fischer each tallied a goal and an assist for Bellarmine (4-0-2, 1-0-2), which bumped its unbeaten streak to 15 dating back to last season. Senior forward
Tomas Bernedo, junior midfielder
Jonathan Huerta and junior defender
Eddie Williamson also scored for the Knights, while freshman forward
Juan Ballas and junior midfielder
Drew Goetz notched assists.
Bellarmine's five goals were the most the Knights had scored since a 5-0 win over Saint Joseph's in 2014. Bellarmine's last victory with a four-goal margin came in last year's GLVC Tournament quarterfinals as the Knights defeated Quincy 4-0.
The onslaught started early, experienced a relatively long period of dormancy and then kicked into overdrive late as the Knights scored four goals in a roughly 22-minute span.
In the eighth minute, Linscott headed in a cross from Fischer to give Bellarmine the early 1-0 lead. It was Linscott's second goal of the season.
Bellarmine easily could have extended that advantage in the first half by at least a goal or two but missed some prime scoring chances. As a result, USI was able to knot the match at 1-all after the Screaming Eagles were fouled inside the box and Eli Quivey sank the resulting penalty kick in the 42nd minute.
However, Bellarmine got that goal back after Linscott was fouled in the box in the second half, and Fischer nailed the ensuing penalty kick for a 2-1 lead in the 61st minute. It was Fischer's third goal of the year.
Less than five minutes later, Bernedo tallied his fourth goal of the season on Linscott's third assist of the year. Linscott passed inside the box to Bernedo, who spun around a defender and fired into the net for a 3-1 lead in the 65th minute.
Huerta made it 4-1 in the 73rd minute with his first goal as a Knight. Ballas headed a throw-in by senior defender
Chris Hunt to Huerta, who ripped a low shot from 20 yards inside the left post.
Williamson capped the parade of goals in the 83rd minute with his second score of the season. Goetz found him in stride charging toward the goal, and Williamson drove the ball into the net for a 5-1 lead.
Bellarmine racked up a 20-5 advantage in shots, including 11-1 on frame. USI's only shot on goal was the penalty kick.
Bellarmine plays at 8:30 p.m. (ET) Friday at Quincy.
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BOX SCORE (HTM)