Game Recap By Don Gilmore, TMU Assistant Sports Information Director

Late Friday morning before his Mustangs took on and beat Oregon Tech at The Master’s University Fall Classic, coach Jim Rickard was talking about the prolific offense of UC Merced.

Hours later, Rickard’s concern seemed justified after the Bobcats doubled up Hope International as part of the Mustangs’ home tournament.

Knowing that his squad would face No. 23 UC Merced on Saturday, the veteran head coach started to game plan.

He came up with one that his team worked to perfection as the Mustangs parlayed their strongest defensive performance of the young season with an electric offense that overwhelmed UC Merced 5-0.

“It was one of those days when everything seemed to go right,” Rickard said. “We had a specific game plan and everyone executed it nearly to perfection.”

It started early for the Mustangs when Luis Garcia Sosa put one past Bobcat goalie Bernardo Garcia just 3:43 into the match. It was Garcia Sosa’s third goal of the season and his second game-winner.

Just under 22 minutes later, Garcia Sosa dished the ball to senior Trevor Mangan, who scored, doubling TMU’s advantage.

It was Mangan’s second score of the campaign and he would be heard from again.

Before that, though, the Mustangs got more offense from their All-American, Benjamin Tembo.

For the second time in two days, the senior from Malawi, Africa, showed why he is one of the nation’s premier goal scorers, shooting one into the net at the 29:25 mark of the opening half.

Less than 30 minutes into the match, the Mustangs had a commanding lead.

They never let up.

Jonathan Brown and his teammates would make sure of that as they shut down the vaunted Bobcat offense.

“Brown’s defensive effort on their dangerous attacking midfielder was one key ingredient,” Rickard said.

The other was the play of freshman goalkeeper Price Anderson, who shared a shutout on Friday and then posted one of his own a day later with a six-save performance.

“My defense communicated better than they have been while keeping their shape and structure,” Rickard said. “I also need to mention my freshman goalkeeper (Anderson), who played like a veteran today.”

Feeding off the defense, the offense went to work over the final 20 minutes to close out the victory.

Mangan added his second goal of the match and his third of the season at the 70:10 mark off an assist from Joseph Moisant.

Then, Matt Logan capped the strong effort in the match’s last minute (89:39), taking a pass from Sam Johnston and heading it into the goal for his second score in three games.

Here’s the box score.

Having started the season on the road at one tournament (Southern Oregon) and then staying undefeated with two victories in their own tourney, the Mustangs hit the road next weekend at the Embry- Riddle Tournament in Prescott, Ariz.

On Friday, TMU faces Benedictine of Mesa before playing host Embry-Riddle on Saturday.