ANGOLA, Ind. – Something needed to break for the Albion men's soccer team.
A heartbreaking loss to Trine in penalty kicks in the 2024 MIAA Semifinals coupled with seven straight defeats against the Thunder before was enough motivation to help the Britons to a 4-0 victory at Shive Field in their MIAA opener.
It was also the most goals scored against Trine since 2016's 6-0 win.
"Any win feels good," head coach
Wytse Molenaar said. "It was a really tight playoff game last year, and every game to a certain extent is a playoff game.
"We just hit some goals at the right moment and then put the game to bed."
Robin Ruigendijk buried a through ball from
Esteban Mercado in the upper left corner of the net donning the all purple kits with just under 7:30 left in the first to get Albion on the board before the half.
"We had a hard time getting through them in the first half," Molenaar said. "[The goal] was a fantastic ball and excellently timed, and we finished.
"Then in the second half, it got a little more open for us."
The opening came with less than 25 minutes left in the stanza. A free kick by Trine sent Albion on a fast break and was finished by a tap-in goal from Ruigendijk on another pass from Mercado for a 2-0 advantage.
Ten minutes later, a blocked shot ricocheted off a Trine defender's shins as
Tristen Spettel gathered it, made a move and scored to make it 3-0.
Xavier Yuille put the cherry on top with 29 seconds left, as Ruijendijk stole the ball and passed it up to junior who buried it.
Albion had 19 shots compared to Trine's five, while
Tom Veresh notched two saves in the clean sheet.
Coming into the match with the squad's best winning percentage in non-conference play since 2017, Molenaar's message of success in conference matches resonated greatly.
"As we told everybody today, there's eight teams that are 0-0 with MIAA conference play starting," Molenaar said. "We got our first win and that's great, but now we have to look forward to get ready for the next opponent."
Up Next
The Britons will be back in action on Saturday, October 11 as they host Alma at noon.
