Box Score COLUMBUS, Miss. – Freshman
Vini Lopes, the reigning USCAA men's soccer Player of the Week, turned in a stellar performance with three goals – all in the first half – of the Mississippi University for Women's 5-1 victory at home over Oakwood University. The Owls win over the Ambassadors upped The W's record to 3-2 on the young 2021 season.
Lopes, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, posted his second "hat trick" as an Owl with goals in the 30th, 33rd and 43rd minutes of the opening stanza. After an unassisted tally on the first goal,
Stephon Walker (Jackson, Miss.) assisted on the second and third, with
Josh Martin (Memphis, Tenn.) also earning an assist on goal No. 2.
Lopes also netted a trio of goals last week in a match at Eureka College.
The W needed the energy from Lopes' onslaught, finding itself down 1-0 after Oakwood netted a goal in the 8th minute. A miscue in the MUW defense forced The W goalkeeper
David McCutchen (Olive Branch, Miss.) off his line and left an open net for the Ambassadors.
But Lopes responded and the Owls took a 3-1 cushion into the halftime locker room.
The W added some second-half insurance. Just over a minute into the final segment,
Paulo Carneiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) made it 4-1 in favor of The W. In the 88th minute,
Joao Schroeder made it the 5-1 final score, with the assist from
Reggi Pech (Meridian, Miss.).
After allowing the early goal to the Ambassadors, the Owls' defense settled in and permitted Oakwood just two more shot attempts the rest of the match. One shot was on-goal as McCutchen finished with one save, while his OU counterpart had 10 saves. In all, The W unleashed 30 shot attempts, 15 on frame.
"We didn't play our best soccer today," The W Head Coach
Louis Alexander said. "However, I'm happy we got the win. Even more so, we got the win in front of a home crowd. Hopefully, we can use this as a positive and a learning opportunity for the rest of our season. Oakwood showed great sportsmanship today as well as the ability to work hard for 90 minutes. Hats off to them!"
