The Covenant men's soccer team picked up its second shutout of the season, while Josh Brower and Mercer Stout continued to power the offense in a 3-0 victory over Berea on Wednesday afternoon at Scotland Yard.
Covenant (4-0-1, 1-0 USA South) remains unbeaten on the year and won its conference opener for a second consecutive season. It is also the first time since 2004 that Covenant has remained unbeaten through five matches to start a season.
The Scots dominated the contest from start to finish and used first half goals to pull away for the victory.
Brower had a goal and two assists and Stout scored twice to lead the offense.
Brower upped his season total in assists to eight, which leads the USA South, and Stout's two goals also placed him at the top in the USA South.
It was Brower that had the eventual game-winner as he scored in the fourth minute. The senior worked the ball into the 18-yard box after a corner kick before blasting his shot past Berea keeper Luis Macias for the score. The goal was Brower's third of the season.
In the 10th minute, Brower found Stout with a perfect through ball into the box where Stout collected and scored past Macias to make it 2-0. Stout's second goal of the match was nearly identical to his first as Brower played the ball to the top of the box and Stout took care of the rest to put Covenant ahead 3-0 in the 23rd minute.
It was Stout's second two-goal match of the season after the sophomore also accomplished the feat in a victory over Southern Virginia on Aug. 31.
That was more than enough goals for the Covenant defense to hold off Berea (3-5, 0-3 USA South). Henry Hooks and Isaac Schoutko combined for the shutout at the net, as they did not need to record a save on the afternoon.
Covenant out-shot Berea, 35-3, with 20 of those attempts coming in the first half. The Scots maintained control of the ball for most of the match and took 17 corner kicks. Stout led all players with eight shots, while Jake Major and Brower had six apiece.
Macias made 14 saves for Berea in the loss. Moses Lian, Junior Gyamfi, and Juan Mercado all had a shot each for the visiting Mountaineers.
Covenant will host USA South foe Piedmont on Friday at 4 p.m. at Scotland Yard.