The Cougars (3-1) got on the scoreboard in the 16th minute when sophomore midfielder Chris Mast (left) gathered a ball, dribbled past several defenders, and ripped a shot from the top of the box into the back of the net for his first career goal and a 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way until seven minutes into the second half when senior midfielder Adam Pelak crossed the ball to junior forward Adam Worrall, who scored to extend the lead to 2-0 for MVNU. The goal was Worrall’s team-leading fourth of the season and Pelak moved into a tie for the team lead with his second assist of the year.

The Cougars appeared headed for their third shutout in four matches to start the season, but with less than two minutes remaining in the match the visiting Tigers (0-3) avoided the shutout. Brent Salomon took a through ball from Camilo Muller following a quick restart and scored to pull Campbellsville to within 2-1.

That would prove to be the final score as MVNU held on for the victory. The Cougars out-shot the Tigers 25-11 in the match including 8-3 on goal. The physical match also featured 43 combined fouls and three cautions.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Stout registered two saves and allowed a goal for MVNU, while Cliff Florence and James Clements each allowed a goal for Campbellsville while combining to stop five shots.

“Today was one of those matches where you are glad to get the win, but it exposed some areas that we need to give attention to,” said MVNU head coach Paul Furey. “The season is still young and we need to continue to progress in our training sessions. We didn’t come out and have the enthusiasm in the first half that you would hope to come out with in your home opener, but we did play better in the second half even though we gave up a late goal. The positive thing is that we got a win despite not having one of our better performances. We’ll look forward to getting things back on track on Saturday.”

The Cougars will return to action on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. match against Grace (Ind.) College to close out the annual First-Knox Cougar Invitational. In the meantime, Campbellsville and Grace will meet on Friday at 3:00 p.m. in the middle of three matches in the tournament.