MVNU (11-5-1, 5-2-1 AMC), which was coming off a tough 3-2 loss at Walsh University on Saturday night that had put a real damper on the Cougars’ postseason plans, needed just over 10 minutes to get on the scoreboard in Tuesday’s contest. Senior forward Scott Forster (left), a transfer from Malone, and sophomore forward Chris Allen ran a little give-and-go play with Allen assisting on Forster’s career-high fifth goal of the season as MVNU took a 1-0 lead.

Allen set up the second goal 10 minutes later when he flicked a pass ahead to fellow Jamaican Kemar Jackson, who buried a shot into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage. The goal was the third of the season for Jackson, while Allen notched his seventh assist of the year.

Junior midfielder Chris Mast extended the lead to 3-0 in the 41st minute when he took a pass from senior midfielder Scott Spangler wide on the left and blasted home his team-leading seventh goal of the season with Spangler picking up his eighth assist of the year.

The lead grew to 4-0 in the 59th minute when sophomore midfielder Kyle Maxam slipped a pass through to junior midfielder Cody Snouffer, who found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

Mast closed out the scoring in the 88th minute with his second goal of the match and his eighth goal of the season as Spangler notched his second assist of the day and his ninth assist of the season. The assist also moved him into ninth place in school history with 24 career assists.

“This was a nice win for us despite the fact that we are banged up right now with a few nagging injuries,” said MVNU coach Paul Furey. “A lot of guys stepped up and filled the void. I was really happy for Scott (Forster), who now in his senior year has two game-winning goals for us and this was an important first goal that he got for us today.”

“I am happy for all of our seniors who had a role in today’s match,” Furey added. “For Brady (Swanson) and Alex (Stout), it was fitting that the defense got a shutout in their final regular-season home match. I was also happy for Scotty (Spangler) with setting up a pair of goals.”

MVNU held a commanding 30-8 advantage in total shots and a 15-2 margin in shots on goal. The Cougars also led 6-1 in corner kicks. Senior goalie Alex Stout and sophomore Trevor Stewart combined to post the team’s 10th shutout of the season with each of them registering one save apiece. Warden Neuenschwander and Phil Bookhamer stopped seven and one shots respectively and Malone had two non-goalie saves.

“Today was a good day for our seniors and a good day for our team,” said Furey. “Now, we need to win our match on Saturday to propel ourselves into the postseason.”

The Cougars will close out the regular season on Saturday at Cedarville University with an AMC match that will start at 7:00 p.m. The winner of that match will qualify for the five-team AMC Tournament, while the loser of the match will most likely not make it unless the perfect combination of scenarios were to happen in their favor. A tie would not guarantee MVNU a spot in the tournament, but it would secure a berth for the Yellow Jackets. A win by the Cougars would not only secure MVNU a berth, but the team could still be seeded as high as No. 2 in the AMC Tournament if the right things happen.