Pride score early and often in 4-0 trouncing of Mustangs

DUBUQUE, Iowa - In search of a return to the win column after starting the season unbeaten through five games, the Clarke Unviersity men's soccer team pulled out a ressounding 4-0 victory over Heart of America Athletic Conference rival Mount Mercy University at Burrows Field on Wednesday night.

The Pride's barrage of offense produced their most goals in a game this season after entering the evening with 10 goals scored through nine games as their four tallies came from four different goal scorers, two of which got their first goals of the season against MMU.

In the 12th minute, CU earned a free kick near their offensive left corner to serve as a pseudo corner kick when Alfonso Gonzalez would serve a precise cross to find the head of Carles Aparisi for Aparisi's first goal of 2025 and the second assist for Gonzalez.

Nearly 11 minutes later, Gonzalez would serve in another quality cross, this time on an actual corner kick as the ball bounced around between a variety of heads and feet of different players before landing at the feet of William Arana, who would bury his third goal of the season to double the Pride lead at 2-0 in the 23rd minute.

With under eight minutes remaining in the first half, Yuto Nishio would make a nice sliding play defensively right around midfield to spring Clarke on a mini counter attack where he fed Hector Medrano, who sent Javi Munoz behind the defense where Munoz's first shot was saved by Mustangs keeper Zach Biggs but the Pride junior would collect his own rebound and tap a shot into a wide open net for his second goal of the season, making it 3-0 heading into the half.

Entering the second half with a feeling of the next goal being the most crucial, the Pride were able to keep the momentum on their side, scoring their fourth goal of the game just about 10 minutes into the second half after receiving a free kick just outside the box in a situation where Arana may have had a chance for a second goal with a one-on-one look against the goalie, if advantage was given to CU.

The foul was called on MMU and Nishio would step to the ball for a free kick just outside the 18-yard box as he would produce a perfect strike to curl the ball right over the wall Mount Mercy set up and inside of the near post for his first goal as a member of the Pride, to make it the eventual final score of 4-0.

The official's whistle was head quite a bit in the game, as the two teams combined for 41 fouls and 13 bookings with the Mustangs receiving six yellow cards and Clarke getting seven yellow cards, including two yellows for Medrano, sending him off in the 64th minute where CU would maintain their shutout a man down for the final 27 minutes of the game.

Pride goalie Lucas Fontana made season-high eight saves for his fourth shutout of the season as he was only tested once in the first half but would make seven stops in the second 45 minutes, with the ball on the CU half of the field more often after they went a man down.

Clarke men's soccer will now start a three-game road stretch beginning this Saturday when they travel to William Woods University for a scheduled 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff in Fulton, Mo. against the Owls, a new member of the Heart this season.