St. Petersburg, Fla. --- The MC men's soccer team defeated the Eckerd Tritons 3-0 on Monday afternoon (September 4^th) to give them a perfect record on their Florida road trip.
           
The first half of the match was relatively quiet offensively, but Eckerd pressured MC throughout with six shots in the first 45 minutes, but to no avail. With time ticking down before halftime, freshman Denis O. John delivered a goal in the bottom corner off a well-placed assist by William Janous just as the buzzer sounded for MC to take a 1-0 lead at half.
           
The Choctaws stayed hot offensively as just three minutes into the second half, O. John scored his second goal of the match from a well-placed shot over the keeper with the assist coming from Jayce Dotson.
           
The MC defense stayed strong, even with the Tritons putting up a plethora of shots. However, in the 79^th minute, LeMoyne College transfer Max Buesch delivered the dagger just under the Eckerd keeper to seal the 3-0 win.
           
On the match, MC outshot the Tritons 11-9, with Carlos Viquez for the Choctaws making four saves and picking up his first clean sheet of the season. Viquez and the MC defense also stopped a total of eight corners that the Tritons took to only one for the Choctaws.
           
Ten cards across both teams, six for Eckerd (including two red cards) and four for MC, made for a whistle heavy match. The ten cards were the most in a match since October 31, 2021, against West Florida.
           
The Choctaws have also scored six goals across their first two regular season matches, which is a feat they have not done since the 2008 season.
           
The next match for the Choctaws (2-0) is their home opener against Harding on Friday, September 8^th where it is the first of two home games against GAC opponents. The match will begin at 3:30 p.m. CT at Robert P. Longabaugh Field.