NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. -- The Trine University men's soccer team scored two goals in the first five minutes of the second half to come away with a 3-1 victory against their hosts from Manchester University.
Neither team found the back of the net in the first half of the contest, but both teams did force saves from the opposition. The Spartans forced the first action from Trine sophomore Troy Saylor (Caledonia, Mich. / Caledonia) who played the contest in net for the team. That save came in the 20th minute of the contest. Saylor would end the half with a pair of saves before finishing out the game with four.
After finishing the first half with just a pair of shots, the Thunder roared to life in the opening minutes of the second. Their first shot of the period struck true as sophomore Tyler Murphy (Greenfield, Ind. / Greenfield Central) tallied the team's first goal of the season and junior Ethan Pendry (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) recorded the assist on the tally.
Just a few minutes later, sophomore Alhasan Yahya (Melvindale, Mich. / Melvindale) would add a goal of his own. Following a foul by Manchester, Yahya came up with his first goal of the season to give the team a 2-0 lead.
The next 20 minutes of play were tough played soccer with the Spartans forcing another save from Saylor and both teams recorded multiple fouls. The relative stalemate was broken in the 63rd minute when Murphy struck for a second goal, once again off a feed from Pendry.
Saylor's shutout attempt was ruined in the 70th minute of play when Manchester came up with their lone goal of the contest pulling back with in two at 3-1.
The 1-0 Thunder hit the road for their next contest, traveling to face Webster University on Saturday, Sept. 4. The contest is set to begin at 1 p.m.