The win was the first collegiate triumph for first-year head coach Chad Hardin as the Knights exploded for four first-half goals en route to the win. It was the first time the Knights had scored six goals since September 13, 2006 when they defeated Franklin College by an 8-0 score at Kuntz Stadium.

Coach Hardin said that the Knights needed to jump out on top quickly in a pre-game interview, and they did just that. The Knights tallied at the 4:51 mark when senior Chase Brackin played junior Tyler Kitchen on the counter-attack. Kitchen had open space and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper, but, before it could cross the goal line, sophomore Fabricio Lemus drove it into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Just four minutes later, Lemus tallied his second marker of the match when sophomore transfer Daniel Terrell served a perfect cross into the box at the 8:42 mark. Lemus got his head onto the ball and sent it inside the far right post to stake MU a 2-0 lead.

A botched play in the back resulted in a counter-attack by the Bulldogs and allowed them to score at the 19:41 mark to cut the score to 2-1. However, the Knights were far from done in the first frame.

Terrell lobbed a ball over the top of the defense and Kitchen ran onto it in space. He broke into the back and hammered a shot into the left side of the net at the 23:48 mark to give the Knights the 3-1 lead.

Fifth-year senior Michael Foerster finished the scoring in the first half with a play of persistence. Sophomore Bradley Yust played Foerster in on the right side at the 33:05 mark and Foerster hit a shot that was saved by the goalkeeper. However, he spilled the rebound and Foerster pounced to give MU a 4-1 halftime lead.

The Knights out-shot the Bulldogs 18-3 in the first half on an extremely hot day on the artificial surface.

The second half started with much of the same as the Knights tallied quickly, just 2:36 into the second stanza. At the 47:36 mark, Terrell played a cross from the right to Lemus at the top of the 18-yard box. He reached back with his foot and touched the ball over his defender and brought it down with his chest. He lightly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to complete the hat trick and give MU a 5-1 lead.

The Knights had one more left in them as they tallied at the 64:32 mark. Sophomore Grant Brackin played Yust on an overlapping run into the box and he was able to push a shot past the goalkeeper. However, with the ball inches from the goal line, Lemus hammered it into the back of the net to give MU a 6-1 lead. The Knights would hold the ball as much as possible over the final 25 minutes to secure Hardin his first collegiate victory as a head coach.

Lemus' four goals is the first time since Drew Dallas scored a hat trick in 2006 that a Knight has tallied three or more markers in a match. Terrell, in his second match with the Knights, notched three assists, while Kitchen added a goal and an assist. Yust notched a pair of assists, while Foerster scored a goal and Grant Brackin had an assist.

The Knights hit the road on Friday and Saturday when they head to Fort Wayne, Ind., for the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) Fall Classic. The Knights take on Davenport University on Friday at 1 p.m. before taking on Cornerstone University on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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