MEN’S SOCCER

Playing the University of Michigan Dearborn (2-2-1) for the first time in program history, the HU men’s soccer team left no doubt who the better team was by shutting out the Wolverines 4-0 Saturday afternoon at King Stadium.

With this win, HU improves to 5-2 and remains perfect on their home turf. Sophomore keeper Gabe Greenfield logged his second clean sheet of the season. During his 90 minutes between the posts, he recorded five saves.

The Foresters’ offense looked effortless especially in the first half when they scored back-to-back goals midway through the period for a lead that proved untouchable.

Ty Sproat got things started in the 28th minute with a screamer outside the 18 on a nifty pass from Noah Stanford. Less than two minutes later, Matheus Louzada made it 2-0 off a free kick that he hammered off the bar and in for his third goal of the year.

Travis Hurtis and Bradey Gerke put the finishes touches on HU’s dominant performance by doubling the lead in the final 45 minutes. In a scramble for the ball, Hurtis ricocheted a shot off the chest of the UMD keeper from point blank range and then rocketed the rebound back netting for his first goal of the season with 15 minutes to go.

Ten minutes later Louzada slotted the ball across the box to Gerke who was tracking far post for an easy tap-in and the day’s final score. HU finished with 23 shots, 13 on goal, to the Wolverines’ eight, five of which were on target.

“This was a convincing performance,” noted Coach Lawson. “I was very pleased with the boys and their energy from start to finish.

“I felt execution-wise, this was one of our cleanest games to date in terms of keeping possession and breaking down their defense to create opportunities in behind.”

The Foresters are a week and a half from their Crossroads League opener with a pair of non-conference road games yet to go which includes Manchester on Wednesday and Trine on Saturday.