OMAHA, Neb. - Senior Manuel Lira (Guadalajara, Mexico) scored twice to lead the Bellevue University men's soccer team extended their unbeaten streak to nine with a 3-0 victory over visiting Morningside College on Wednesday evening at Tranquility Park in Omaha. Ranked 20th nationally in the latest NAIA poll, BU improves to 8-1-1 on the season while the loss drops Morningside to 3-6-0 on the campaign.
Lira, the team's leading scorer a year ago with eight goals and five assists for 21 points, had been limited to just four assists this season coming into the game but broke out in a big way. Lira got onto the scoresheet for the first time this season in the opening minute with a blast from about 30 yards out. Some nifty midfield play by freshman Jacob Pease (Lincoln, England) allowed him to get ball to fellow rookie and countryman Rob Smith (Lincoln, England) who found Lira in the center of the field. Lira then unleashed as hard a shot as there's been this season which ducked under the crossbar on its way into the back of the net.
Lira added his second tally of the match in the 35th minute following some terrific footwork by junior Tobias Maertzke (Hamburg, Germany). Maertzke collected the ball off a deflection at the corner of the 18-yard box and used a step over to get the defender on the ground and clear up space for a cross. He delivered a ball through the box to Lira who took a touch to settle before unleashing a low and hard shot to the near side past the keeper.
Following the second goal, play continued mostly in the midfield for the remainder of the half and BU rode their 2-0 advantage into the break. The Bruins had the better of play in the first half as they out-shot the Mustangs in the opening 45 minutes by a margin of 8-1 while claiming a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks for the period.
Morningside was gifted a great scoring opportunity in the 70th minute following a Bellevue foul 25 yards from goal. A run by on the free kick by Joao De Camargo Soares saw the ball left to Forrest Maxon whose dipping shot sailed just wide of goal and danger was averted.
The Bruins would add some insurance in the 73rd minute with senior Vinny Braga (Sao Paolo, Brazil) scoring his second goal of the season. Sophomore David Goolsby delivered a nice through ball that found Braga in the box. From there Braga took two dribbles and delivered a well-placed ball on the ground past the keeper.
Senior Scott Robertson (Burnley, England) and sophomore Ben Martin (Lincolnshire, England) combined for one save on their way to recording the Bruins' fifth shutout of the season. Robertson improved his record in goal to 5-1-1. Eduardo Pinheiro took the loss to drop to 2-3-0 for Morningside but did record three saves in the match.
BU maintained a 13-4 advantage in shots for the match, largely playing a game of keepaway in the second half.
Bellevue will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 4 when they host #12 Ashford at 2:00 p.m. at Tranquility Park in Omaha.
