FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist men's soccer team opened the 2016 season with a 5-0 loss to Virginia Wesleyan at the Monarch Soccerplex on Wednesday night.

The Monarchs fall to 0-1 on the year, while the Marlins improve to 1-1-1 overall.

VWC opened the scoring at the 14:11 mark when Ricky Perrault tallied his first goal of the season after a goalie change from MU due to injury. The Marlins added one more goal in the 42nd minute after a pass from Bennett Wiley found the foot of Reggie Lloyd to bring the halftime score to 2-0.

In the second half, Perrault tallied another goal for VWC at the 51:17 mark to extend the lead, 3-0. The Marlins added to the deficit in the 69th minute when Andrew Freeman was able to find a loose ball in the box and make the score 4-0. Less than three minutes later, Freeman posted his second goal of the contest after heading a throw in that was tossed into the box by Alex Surprise, 5-0
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Scott Brecke (0-1) received the loss for the Monarchs after coming in for relief in the first half, while Jonathan Moore returned to the field in the second half and recorded one save in 58 minutes of play. Jay Fox (1-1-1) earned the win after tallying a save in 70 minutes on the field.

The Marlins held a 12-5 shot advantage, while the Monarchs had an edge in corner kicks with a 5-4 margin. A total of six yellow cards and 24 fouls were awarded during the contest.

MU returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 10, as it travels to Rocky Mount, N.C., to take on Emory as part of the N.C. Wesleyan Fall Classic at 1 pm.
 
 
 
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