After escaping with a 1-0 double overtime victory in last year’s meeting between the two teams when the Pioneers (0-4, 0-1 AMC) packed everyone in on defense, MVNU (4-2, 1-0 AMC) knew that it would take patience and precision to beat that strategy this year if they did not want to see history repeat itself.

The Cougars came out passing crisply from the beginning and in the 12th minute junior midfielder Cody Snouffer crossed the ball to Mast (left) in front of the goal. Mast found the back of the net for his first goal of the season as Snouffer notched his third assist of the year as MVNU took the early 1-0 lead.

The Cougars extended their lead to 2-0 in the 30th minute when senior midfielder Scott Spangler sent a cross from the left side into the box where senior forward Scott Forster was waiting to head it home for his first goal of the year.

The score remained that way until the second half when MVNU really began to loosen up the Point Park defense with the Cougars’ pinpoint passing. In the 58th minute, Spangler sent an indirect kick into the box to senior defender Brady Swanson, who buried it into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead. The goal was Swanson’s first of the year with Spangler notching his second assist of the match.

Mast made it three straight goals on headers in the 64th minute when he knocked home a corner kick by Snouffer to increase the lead to 4-0 with his second goal of the match as Snouffer upped his team-leading assist total to four on the season.

Just over two minutes later, Mast struck again when he ripped a shot from 30 yards out over Point Park goalie Zeke O’Donnell and into the upper right corner of the net to cap off his first career hat trick and give MVNU a 5-0 advantage.

Then, in the 87th minute, junior defender Kemar Jackson closed out the scoring with his first goal of the season off an assist from Mast, who finished with three goals and an assist in the contest as the Cougars prevailed 6-0.

"We did a great job of executing our game plan today,” said MVNU assistant coach Steve Lesmes, who is filling in for head coach Paul Furey who is at home recovering after suffering a heart attack on Sunday. "We were very precise with all of our passes and did a great job of playing the ball through the back when we needed to change the field. Everyone did a great job of executing and if we can continue to play the way that we did today than good things are going to happen.”

"Our offense ran through our midfield today and they did an outstanding job of setting up our attack,” Lesmes added. "It was also great to get all the players involved in the action as they have all worked hard in practice to make the team better. This was a good, solid win for us to build off of as we head into some big matches in the upcoming weeks. It was also great to start conference play with a victory.”

The Cougars posted a commanding 29-5 advantage in total shots, an 11-1 edge in shots on goal, and an 8-0 margin in corner kicks. Nearly lost in the offensive outburst was the fact that the team posted its fourth straight shutout with senior goalkeeper Alex Stout posting one save in notching the 30th shutout of his illustrious career. Meanwhile, O’Donnell stopped five shots in goal for the Pioneers.

MVNU will take the weekend off and will return to action next Friday when the Cougars will host Ohio Dominican University in a non-conference match that will kick off at 4:00 p.m.