MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (Men's Soccer) – The Shawnee State men's soccer team obtained seven saves from Brandon Pfeiffer (SO/Canal Winchester, Ohio) and kept a strong Mount Vernon Nazarene offense scoreless for the entire first half of play, but the Cougars would use three goals over a 20 minute span – including two within 30 seconds of each other – to break the game open as the Bears fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene 3-0 in a nonconference affair at Cougar Field on Wednesday evening.

The Cougars (3-1-1), who held a shot advantage in each half en route to a 20-10 edge on strikes, also held an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal over the Bears (3-5), who struggled to find many openings during the first half. However, Shawnee State's extensive ball pressure on the backline – which included Aaron Mazurkiewicz (FR/Vincent, Ohio), Cody Hartong (SO/Creston, Ohio), and Ben Pulsford (SR/Slough, England) – kept Mount Vernon from finishing possessions in a manner that the Cougars would have liked.

During the latter half of the first frame, the Bears turned the efforts made by the defensive unit into some offensive chances, as Martyn Sayer (JR/Liverpool, England)'s shot in the 29^th minute would be the first that Shawnee State had been able to attempt all game. With less than 10 minutes in the half and the Cougar offense continuing their struggles in finishing off offensive possessions, the Bears would obtain opportunities on a free kick by Cody Hartong from less than 20 yards out and from a streaking Mark Hergenrather (JR/Uniontown, Ohio) in consecutive minutes as well as an opportunity in front of the net by Chris Wiget (SR/Piketon, Ohio). However, Hartong's free kick would fall right in front of goalkeeper Adam Miller, Hergenrather's shot would roll to the left side of the net, and Wiget's bullet would again be saved by Miller as the score remained at a 0-0 stalemate at halftime.

In the second frame, the Mount Vernon Nazarene offense would kick into high gear as the Cougars – specifically leading point-scorers Noah Larson and Preston Spurrier – began to run free from the Shawnee State defense. After a Larson goal was negated by an offside call, it seemed as if the game would remain scoreless up until the game's end as Pfeiffer made two excellent saves to keep the game knotted at a 0-0 tie through the first 49 minutes of play.

However, Pfeiffer could not deny the Mount Vernon Nazarene offense for a third time, as Larson came through with an unassisted goal at the 50:47 mark by beating Pfeiffer to the ball and shifting to the right, forcing a collision between the sophomore keeper and Pulsford as the latter attempted to hustle back into the play. With nobody to impede the freshman, Larson would finish off the play with a shot from the far side of the field to the near side of the net in giving the Cougars the 1-0 advantage.

From that point on, Mount Vernon Nazarene began to build on a sizeable advantage in shots on goal as the Cougars outshot the Bears by a 13-6 tally in the second half to put the pressure on the Shawnee State defense. In the 70^th minute, Mount Vernon Nazarene would put the game away as Spurrier took a corner kick from Joshua Alexander on the right side of the playing surface and redirected the ball past a diving Pfeiffer into the left side of the net at the 70:17 mark to put the Cougars up by a 2-0 tally. Alexander then added the finishing touches 27 seconds later as the sophomore took a near-side cross from Aaron Russell and redirected the aforementioned cross with a header of his own to give Mount Vernon Nazarene the necessary breathing room and allow the Cougars to coast to the 3-0 victory.

Offensively, the Bears were led by Wiget, who had two shots, including one on goal. Hartong's free kick would serve as the only other shot on goal for Shawnee State in the contest. Caspar Nolte (FR/Germantown, Ohio) and Joe Lamont (JR/Edinburgh, Scotland) added two shots apiece for the Bears.

Shawnee State will receive two days of rest before returning to the Shawnee Turf on Saturday to Kick for Crohn's as the Bears will host St. Catharine in the second game of a women's and men's soccer doubleheader as part of the Alumni Weekend festivities. The scheduled start time is set for 3 p.m.