Box Score

LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's soccer team ran their unbeaten streak to four matches and reached the .500 mark for the season with a 7-0 blanking of Rockford University on Tuesday.

"Tonight was a tremendous team effort," head coach Rich Nassif said. "Our bench was short due to some injuries and I really credit our guys for coming out, putting in the work, and earning three points once again in conference. It was great to see seven different players score as we continue to find good play from some of our younger guys who have not been getting on the field as much."

Benedictine dominated from the outset, although it took until the 24th minute to score a goal. Ante Markotic, recently named as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Student Athlete of the Week, tallied his fifth goal of the season on a penalty kick. Just over a minute later Markotic provided the helper on a Cesar Valdez goal.

The Eagles tallied one more goal in the first half to open a 3-0 advantage. Edgar Reyes finished a cross from Hector Valencia in the 29th minute. Zorohn Reed did not face a shot in goal in the opening 45 minutes.

"Most importantly, I thought our guys really controlled the tempo of the game," Nassif added. "Even when we had tons of space to work with, we kept the ball moving, made Rockford chase a bit, and wore them down for some very quality looks. The build-up was very good and we had the finishing touch going tonight. It was also great to see us finally get some goals off of set pieces, particularly Eric's goal and Josh's goal there at the end."

Benedictine padded the lead with four goals in the second half coming from four different individuals. Three of the individuals notched their first finders of the season. Reyes provided a pair of assists. Julio Lopez struck in the 47th minute while Joel Sandoval found the back of the net in the 65th minute. Eric Lukitsh and Joshua Ickes rounded out the scoring. Three different goalies saw action in the second half with Derek Catlett receiving a majority of the time.

The Eagles (4-4-1, 3-0-1) held a commanding 27-3 advantage in shots, peppering the goal with 11 on target. Reyes, Markotic, and Alex Haro posted four apiece.

"Tonight gives us another three points and another shutout in NACC play," Nassif said. "It feels good to have secured three wins at home as well, but we will keep pushing for more. Tomorrow we will get in, put some work in to repair and recover physically, and then start to focus on Concordia Wisconsin who we have this Saturday. I am confident the guys will continue to put the mental focus into training and match preparation so we that we are ready to go Saturday up in Wisconsin."

Benedictine will look to continue the unbeaten streak on the road Saturday afternoon at Concordia Wisconsin.