FULTON, Mo. – Two second half goals lifted the William Woods University Men's Soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Missouri Baptist University in the Owls American Midwest Conference opener on Tuesday night at Firley Field.
 
The Owls had goals by Rodrigo Alves and Anthony Moscatello in the second half. WWU outshot the Spartans, 16-11, however Missouri Baptist only had two shots on goal in the contest. Conor Cable recorded the shutout for the Owls, his fourth of the season.
 
WWU returns to action on Saturday, September 17th when they travel to Columbia, Missouri to face Columbia College. The Owls and Cougars start play at 4:30 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense came out clicking as they attempted the first shot of the game 28 seconds into the game. Jesse Jordan took the first shot of the game but Braedan Passalis recorded the save for the Spartans.
 
The Spartans would counter as Rafael Rangel and Joshua Phillips took shots. Rangel's shot went wide, while Phillips shot was on goal and Conor Cable recorded one of his two saves in the contest.
 
William Woods continued to keep the pressure on Missouri Baptist as Rodrigo Alves, got behind the defense and took one of his three shots on goal but Passalis recorded the save. WWU continued to keep the pressure on has Brett Hodges and Jesse Bowers had shots go wide late in the first half.
 
Missouri Baptists last chance to score in the first half came with just over nine minutes left in the half as Phillips shot went wide.
 
The Owls looked to counter late in the first half as Moscatello had a shot that Passalis saved with one second left in the half. The game went scoreless into halftime.
 
After halftime, the Owls who have scored seven goals in the second half or later on the season, came out looking to break the scoreless tie. Moscatello continued to pester the Spartans as he recorded his second shot on goal and Passalis recorded the save. Thirty seconds later Alberto Pitarch missed a shot high.
 
With just over 35 minutes left in the game, the Owls finally beat Passalis for the first goal of the contest. Moscatello found Alves for a goal putting the Owls ahead, 1-0. Nine minutes later the Owls extended its lead to 2-0 when Alves found Moscatello for a goal.
 
After scoring the two goals, the Owls were not done attacking the goal has Ryan Howell had a shot on goal that was saved. Alves came back with a shot that went wide of the game and Lendall Louis-Jacques fired a shot on goal that was saved.
 
The Owls defense continued to give the Spartans trouble as they did not allow any good looks on the goal and Phillips took a shot high. Four minutes later in the game, Phillips attempted his second shot on goal, which was saved by Cable. The Spartans had one more look on a Gerardo Espinoza shot that went wide.

The Owls opened up the American Midwest Conference action with a 2-0 victory over the Spartans. The shutout was the fifth of the season for the Owls, who improved to 7-1 on the season.
 
By The Numbers
2 – The Owls scored two second half goals to lift them to the victory
9 – WWU put nine shots on goal in the game to Missouri Baptists two
5 – William Woods had five corner kick opportunities in the game
3 – Rodrigo Alves score one goal and put two other shots on goal
3 – Like Alves, Anthony Moscatello had three total shots on goal