CARY, NC – Thursday was a historic day for the William Peace University men's soccer team, as the Pacers kicked off the 2016 regular season in impressive fashion, overwhelming the Owls of Warren Wilson College by a whopping 10-0 margin.
  
Eight different Pacers put one in the back of the net, including two goals apiece from Chris Deleon and Ja'Rod Randolph, starting with a Deleon rip from well beyond the 18-yard box eight minutes in. Randolph made it 7-0 by half with goals in the 40th and 43rd minutes, both of which were assisted by Seth Cranford.

Tanielu Riley gave WPU a quick 2-0 lead just a couple minutes after Deleon's first strike thanks to a ball played over the top from Steven Wigley. Riley found Dylan Shields for a goal in the 27th minute. Junior Ayala scored his first career goal as a Pacer in the 29th minute, and Enrique Ochoa found the back of the net less than a minute later to make it 5-0.

Deleon broke through for a second time after the break with an impressive goal from distance and from a seemingly impossible angle. After helping out on a pair of scores in the first half, Cranford scored a goal of his own a few minutes later to make it 9-0 with the assist coming from Riley, his second helper of the day. Waylon Herwy capped things off in the 87th minute, netting his first career goal with the help of Jonathan Gares.  

WPU was in attack mode from the opening whistle, racking up 39 shots and nine corners. The Pacers defense was equally impressive, holding Warren Wilson to a single shot late in the second half. 

"We were able to implement a lot of things we've been working on throughout the season, getting the ball wide, looking to capitalize on 2 v 1's with our width and putting dangerous crosses in. I think we did that pretty well, so overall pleased with our performance," said head coach Caleb Husmann.  "It's a good win for us. There are still a couple things we can work on, and we should have finished a couple more that were pretty sloppy, but I don't want to downplay it too much because obviously we're pretty excited."

The WPU men's soccer team is back in action this Saturday at 2:00 p.m., traveling to take on the Knights of Southern Virginia University.

Video coverage and live stats will both be available for the contest.

The Pacers will be back at WakeMed Soccer Park next Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 5:00 p.m., hosting Eastern Mennonite University.

For the latest news and updates from William Peace University Athletics, please visit: http://gopeacepacers.com/.


         

Caleb Husmann Postgame: Warren Wilson (9.1.16)