Romero Nets Hat Trick as Men’s Soccer Shuts Out Mitchell, 5-0

QUINCY, Mass.- Sophomore Rafael Romero (Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain) tallied three goals to propel the Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team to a 5-0 victory over Mitchell Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadiium.

THE BASICS:
Score: Eastern Nazarene 5, Mitchell 0
Records: Lions (3-6-4, 2-0-0 NECC) | Mariners (5-7-0, 1-1-0 NECC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The home team grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Romero bagged his first collegiate goal knocking in a rebound after his initial shot was saved.
• Eastern Nazarene doubled its advantage to 2-0 in the 49th minute. Romero head home his second marker of the match after a left-footed cross from Clide Neau (Easton, Mass.).
• The Lions widened the margin to 3-0 in the 66th minute. Joaquin Ferraro (Seville, Spain) notched his first collegiate goal with a right-footed strike while Romero collected his first career assist.
• Eastern Nazarene added a goal in the 68th minute to stretch its lead to 4-0. Romero completed his hat-trick with a left-footed shot that bounced in off of the crossbar.
• The hosts pushed their advantage to 5-0 in the 72nd minute as Sheelens Ostine (Quincy, Mass.) buried his third tally of the fall.
  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Goalkeeper Lucas Batz (Jacksonville, N.C.) finished with seven saves to post his third clean sheet.
• Eastern Nazarene registered 26 shots on the afternoon while Mitchell generated 16 attempts.
• The Lions concluded the contest with a narrow 2-1 edge in corner kicks.

LOOKING AHEAD:

Eastern Nazarene eyes its third-straight conference win as it travels to Lesley October 19.