Johnson Wins 50th as Men’s Soccer Cruises Past CUAA, 7-0

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DETROIT — Marygrove men’s soccer erupted for its best offensive output since 2010, cruising past Concordia-Ann Arbor to win 7-0 in Detroit on Wednesday (Oct. 7) to move to 5-5-1 overall and  2-1-1 in WHAC play. The 7-0 triumph lifted seventh-year head coach Matt Johnson to career win No. 50 at the helm of Marygrove men’s soccer as the Mustangs suffocated the Cardinals to the tune of a 30-3 shots advantage (18-1 on goal).

The Cardinals fell to 0-11-0 overall and 0-5-0 in conference action with the setback in Detroit.

Scoring started 25 seconds into the contest when Andriy Pelekh (Lviv, Ukraine/Salem High School) crossed a well-time ball into the box that met the head of Abdoulie Jallow to give the Mustangs an early 1-0 lead. Jallow (Bansang, The Gambia/Rust College) charged into the box to head in his fifth goal of the campaign, opening a scoring barrage on Wednesday afternoon for the Green and Gold.

Five minutes later, Pelekh used his chest to tap home his first goal of the season as Gaoussou Cisse (Abidjan, Ivory Coast/Lathrup High School) headed a ball to his teammate to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. Cisse, originally credited with the goal, played a Gonzalo Caceres (Detroit, Mich./Southwestern High School) corner kick toward the net before Pelekh finished it off to give the Mustangs a 2-nil lead.

Both Caceres and Cisse earned an assist on the seamless set-piece strike.

In the 14th minute, senior defender and defensive mid Moussa Diallo (Conakry, Guinea/Fordson High School) connected on the Mustangs second header goal of the match to give the Green and Gold a commanding 3-0 advantage early in the contest. Diallo’s 14th minute goal his first of the season while Jallow picked up the assist after crossing the ball in the box.

Jallow would strike off a rebound for his second goal of the game and sixth overall on the season in the 19th minute after Haider Alzayadi’s shot rang off the crossbar. With two goals and one assist on the day, Jallow extended his team-best points total to 16 on six goals and four assists in 11 matches.

The Mustangs tucked in two more goals in the first half to take a 6-0 lead into the break after Mohammed Alkhulaidi and Oneil Robinson struck in the 37th and 45th minute, respectively. Alkhulaidi’s tally was his first of the season while Robinson (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Cornwall College) found the back of the net for the fourth time in 2015.

Andre Bennett (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Cornwall College) earned his first point as a Mustang after finding Alkhulaidi for the Mustangs fifth goal of the match.

In the second half, the Mustangs’ Gbenga Ayanwale (Osun State, Nigeria/Atanda International) scored the seventh and final goal of the match with a blast from 12-yards out to beat the Cardinal keeper just under the crossbar.

Austin Valentine (Westland, Mich./Concordia-Ann Arbor) earned the win in net against his former club after playing the match’s opening 58 minutes to move to 5-3-1 on the season. Junior keeper Ryan Plonka (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Macomb CC) spelled Valentine to play the final 32 minutes of the match as the pair shared the shutout against the Cardinals.

NOTEWORTHY: The Mustangs owned a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks after controlling possession for much of the match … Johnson is the lone head coach in program history, giving Marygrove men’s soccer its 50th win on Wednesday as well … The last seven-goal match came on Oct. 23, 2010 when the Mustangs defeated Kuyper College … The largest win margin and scoring output in program history was on Aug. 28, 2010 when the Green and Gold topped Great Lakes Christian by an 8-0 final …

MEN’S SOCCER CONTACT: Tim Johnston | [email protected]/* */ | @tjohnston56
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