Henderson, TN – The #15 UC men's soccer team continued to ride their success from non-conference play, securing a win for their Mid-South Conference opener. Cumberlands had a commanding victory over Freed-Hardeman, 4-0, to extend their win streak to four matches. UC now has a season record of 4-2-1.

Stephen Appiah remains the top offensive weapon for UC, netting his third brace of the season. Storm Hollensted notched his second goal of the season, while Shuma Sasaki found the net for the first time in 2022.

The UC defense was in full force for the game, limiting the Lions to only four shots, with none of them coming on frame. The shutout marks the fourth time this season the Patriots have kept a clean sheet.

The scoring came quick for UC to open the game, where the team scored their earliest goal of the season at 18 minutes. Joachim Blomsterberg played a great ball up the left flank that only Tommaso Ogliari could run down. Ogliari made his way to the edge of the box where he crossed the ball across the frame of goal. The ball landed at Appiah's right boot, where he tapped the ball in for the 1-0 lead.

With less than five minutes until the half time break, UC doubled their lead. The Pats were in possession of the ball in their offensive end. Rodrigo Riveros from atop the 18 played the ball to Sasaki on the left. Sasaki took a few touches inside then slotted the ball to a wide open Hollensted, who needed just one touch to bury the ball across the net, out of the reach of the keeper to extend the lead, 2-0.

Cumberlands carried their momentum into the second half, scoring a third goal just 1:45 into the period. Karl-Emil Andersen had the ball almost to the endline where he saw Ogliari making a run into the box. He laid off the pass to Oglirari wo immediately fired at goal. The goalkeeper blocked the shot but it rebounded to Appiah for his second goal of the game increasing UC's lead to three goals.

The final goal in the match, came from high pressure defense that forced a FHU turnover. The Lions were trying to clear the ball out of their backline, an errant pass across the field bounced over their heads and rolled to Sasaki. He took a touch to create space and smashed the ball to the right side netting for his first goal of the season.

The 4-0 scoreline is the largest margin of victory for UC since October 12 last season against Pikeville. Appiah's pair of goals increased is season total to seven, giving him one better than he had across all the games last season.

Not only did UC dominate the shots ration 27-4, but they recorded a new single game best of corner kicks under Head Coach Chris LeFevre, earning 16 across the 90-minute match. The 27 shots marks the most in a single game since 2019 against Thomas More.

Cumberlands will stay in the Volunteer State for their next match when they take on #23 Bethel. The game is set for an 8:30PM ET kick-off on Saturday, September 24.
 
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