Men's Soccer | 10/6/2012 2:31:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Methodist men's soccer team, on the strength of three first-half goals, raced past Kean University, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Monarch Soccerplex.

The Monarchs, who moved to 8-2-1 on the season, tallied three goals in the opening 45 minutes and added a fourth insurance goal in the 57^th minute, before the Cougars (7-5-0) got on the board with under eight minutes to play.

in the seventh minute of the game, junior Eric McGinnis chased down a long pass near the end line and sent a cross into the box that was headed into the back of the net by freshman Anders Petersen for an early 1-0 lead.

Petersen made it 2-0 in favor of the Monarchs when he picked up loose ball just outside the six-yard box and slotted his second goal of the game past Tyler Callahan at the 24:04 mark.

With under seven minutes to play in the first half, junior Chris Ryan got on the end of a long pass, touched it past a rushing Callahan, and scored into an empty net as MU went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

In the second half, sophomore Eirik Nordseth scored unassisted at the 56:17 mark to push the Monarchs's advantage to 4-0 before the Cougars got on the board in the 83^rd minute as Jose Arevalo scored off a feed from Luis Velasquez.

The teams were even in shots, 11-11, though Methodist held a 4-0 edge in corner kicks. Senior Pat Hamel made three saves in goal for the Monarchs, while Callahan made one save for the Cougars.

Methodist returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Marymount at 4:00 pm.