Sophomore defender Brady Swanson got MVNU on the scoreboard just 3:03 into the match when he headed in a corner kick by senior midfielder Aaron Caluza to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.

In the 13th minute, senior defender Matt Wilging (left) notched the first goal of his four-year career when he scored on a penalty kick to give MVNU a 2-0 edge.

The score remained that way until the 32nd minute when sophomore forward Scott Forster took a cross from Swanson and headed in his first career goal to extend the lead to 3-0.

The lead grew to 4-0 in the 34th minute when Swanson scored his second goal of the match and third of the season off a pass from senior forward Steven Lesmes.

Senior defender Isaac Bush (below right) closed out the first-half scoring in the 44th minute with his first career goal as he found the back of the net off a corner kick by sophomore defender Tyler Warwick to give the Cougars a 5-0 halftime advantage.

Freshman forward Rockey Cane got into the scoring act just over three minutes into the second half when freshman midfielder Cody Snouffer slipped a pass through to him for a shot that resulted in his second goal of the year and a 6-0 cushion.

Caluza made it 7-0 in the 55th minute when Warwick’s through ball gave him a breakaway opportunity. The goal was the first of the year for Caluza and the third of his career.

Junior forward Sheldon Tugman (below left) converted a penalty kick opportunity in the 69th minute as the lead increased to 8-0 with his third goal of the season.

Then, in the 83rd minute, freshman defender Kemar Jackson took a cross from Bush and scored his second goal of the year to close out the scoring in the 9-0 victory.

MVNU posted a commanding 35-4 advantage in total shots against the Golden Eagles (12-2-0), who had not lost since September 12 against Campbellsville (Ky.) University. The Cougars’ nine goals were the most since October 1, 2005, when MVNU posted an 11-0 shutout against Myers University. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Stout stopped two shots for the Cougars to post his fifth shutout of the year as he lowered his goals against average to 0.98. Zachariah Mays registered nine saves for Cincinnati Christian.

“Today’s match was a nice reprieve from our demanding conference schedule that we’ve been going through,” said MVNU head coach Paul Furey. “It was nice to get a bunch of guys some playing time that haven’t played as much, and it gave some guys confidence in their goal-scoring ability. The road will get tougher, though, as we go into next week.”

“The other nice factor about today was that we were able to rest some players who were banged up and needed some more recovery time,” Furey added. “I thought we played some good soccer today and created a lot of scoring chances. It was a nice overall, needed, emotional lift.”

The Cougars will return to action on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when MVNU will host Franciscan University in another non-conference match at Cougar Field.