Facing the defending USA South West Division champions, and preseason favorite to repeat, the Covenant men's soccer team put on quite a second half display to pick up a 3-0 road victory at Maryville on Tuesday night in conference action.
Covenant (4-1, 1-0 USA South) scored three second half goals to break a scoreless tie and earn its first win at Maryville since 2012. The three goals are also the most Covenant has scored against a Maryville squad in the 13 all-time meetings between the programs.
After a scoreless first half that saw host Maryville (1-2, 0-1 USA South) out-shoot Covenant 12-7, the visiting Scots put together the best half of soccer so far this season.
Carl Simakoff got the scoring going in the 48th minute with his second goal of the year. Simakoff received a quick pass from Ethan Pettit and blasted the ball into the upper half of the net to provide Covenant with a 1-0 lead.
But Covenant would not stop there. Anthony Buzzeo made it a 2-0 score in the 58th minute as he worked through traffic and then beat Maryville keeper Ryan Jorgensen with his shot to give Covenant the two-goal advantage. The goal was Buzzeo's first of the season and is the second straight match against Maryville in which he has scored.
Parker Owen then finished off any hopes Maryville had of a late rally with his score in the 71st minute. Keegan Weekley found Owen, who then made a move and got his shot past Jorgensen to make it 3-0. The goal was Owen's first of the year and it was Weekley's third assist.
Covenant outshot Maryville 11-6 in the second half and both teams took 18 shots in the contest. Covenant keeper Paul Lemay collected his first complete shutout of the year as he made six saves. Jorgensen faced 10 shots on goal and made seven saves in the loss.
Owen led Covenant with four shots, while Mercer Stout and Buzzeo took three apiece.
Covenant will open up Homecoming Weekend against Birmingham Southern on Friday at 5 p.m. at Scotland Yard.