Men’s Soccer Powers Past Wheelock, 7-0, in Non-Conference Tilt

BOSTON, Mass.- Sophomore Andrew Nelson (Burtonsville, Md.) collected his second hat trick of the season as the Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team coasted past Wheelock 7-0 in non-league action Tuesday evening.

The Lions elevate to 3-0-0 on the year with the victory while the Wildcats slide to 0-2 overall.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 17th minute as Jacob Mason (Southport, England) bagged his second tally of the season.

Nelson, the reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week, notched a pair of unassisted goals in a 1:25 span to widen Eastern Nazarene's lead to 3-0.

The Lions capped off the scoring in the first half on a Joao Costa (Framingham, Mass.) strike. Mason picked up his second assist of the season on Costa's first collegiate marker.

Eastern Nazarene carried the 4-0 lead into the halftime break after firing 27 shots in the opening stanza.

Nelson completed his hat trick in the 61st minute, tallying his third score of the game and team-leading seventh of the fall. After his initial shot was saved by the Wheelock goalkeeper, Nelson poked in the rebound to push the margin to 5-0.

Eastern Nazarene found the back of the net twice nearly two minutes apart. Connor Hudson-Bryant (Weymouth, Mass.) finished a feed from Zachary Rodas (Douglas, Mass.) to earn his second score of the season before Rodas buried his first collegiate goal in the 67th minute to close out the scoring.

The Lions concluded the match with a commanding 48-1 advantage in shots and a 30-1 edge in shots on target. The visitors also earned all 11 corner kicks awarded on the night.

Jameson MacFarland (Jacksonville, Fla.) stopped the only shot he faced in the cage to register his second shutout of the year.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene remains on the road as it opens league play at Nichols September 12.