Men's Soccer | 11/8/2013 9:26:00 PM

Box Score AXTON, Va. – With another conference tournament finale appearance within its reach, the top-seeded Methodist men's soccer team defeated No. 5 seed Averett, 3-0, on Friday evening in the USA South Tournament semifinals at the Smith River Sports Complex.
 
MU (11-6-2) started its scoring as Chris Ryan played a ball upfield to teammate Mike Ilodigwe, who then blasted a shot into the left upper-90, putting the Monarchs ahead, 1-0, at the 25:35 mark.
 
The Cougars had an opportunity to knot up the score when the Monarchs' Nick Martens saved a shot by Adil Iich in the 34th minute and fumbled the ball afterwards. Martens recovered in time, turning around and pouncing on the ball to prevent the game-tying tally from rolling past the goal line. Methodist would carry this one-goal advantage over the Cougars (8-9-2) into the break.
 
In the second half, the Monarchs began to distance themselves from the Cougars. Following several deflections in front of the Averett goal, Frank Barone booted a shot into the back of the net near the 52:00 mark, giving Methodist a 2-0 edge. Nahom Hargwoin earned an assist on the play. To wrap up the night's goal scoring, Eric McGinnis took a pass from Alec Baulch in the 57th minute and fired a shot into the right upper-90.
 
Martens earned yet another shutout for the Monarchs, his third consecutive clean slate and eighth this season. He made four saves. The Cougars' Martin Erenstedt was handed the loss, allowing all three goals and stopping four shots.
 
Methodist will attempt to defend its conference tournament crown in the championship game on Saturday at 5:00 pm against No. 2 seed Greensboro.