Buffalo, NY - The D'Youville men's soccer team had an impressive first win of the season on Friday evening as they defeated the Bethany Bison by the final score of 3-0.

D'Youville came out firing on offense to begin the game, out shooting their guests by the total of 7-0 in the first 20 minutes of the game. As the half went on, Bethany would begin to put chances together but nothing would challenge the D'Youville defense. With the half drawing to a close, the intensity turned up a notch but the score would remain tied at zero after 45 minutes.

It didn't take long for the Spartans to finally break through in the second half to take the lead. In the 49th minute, Jake Kowalewski (Attica, NY/Attica) and Nick Dumond (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) connected on a series of nice passes that led to Kowalewski one-on-one with the Bethany keeper where Kowalewski would beat him to the near post for a 1-0 D'Youville lead. 

The intensity continued to rise as Bethany would eventually go down to 10 men as one of their players was issued a red card. With the man advantage, the Spartans were able to increase their already impressive possession totals, leading to their second goal of the game.

In the 83rd minute, Mwibeleca Tumba (Congo/Fraternity Institute) dribbled through the Bison defense to have his shot blocked, but the ball fell back to his foot where he was able to put away his first goal as a Spartan to double the team's lead. Just over two minutes later, Tumba struck again to put away the game for D'Youville as he had another close shot from inside the box after a touch from Daniel Bagalwa (Buffalo, NY/International Prep) to beat the keeper and bring the game to it's final score of 3-0.

William Anderson (Lakeview, NY/Frontier) earned his first career shutout in the game behind an outstanding defensive effort. Kowalewski, AJ Wade (Lockport, NY/Starpoint), Matt Davis (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport), and Khaled Numan-Ali (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga) were all exceptional in the game along the back line. HsaKlo Moo (Riverside, NY/McKinley) also provided quality minutes in his collegiate debut.

On offense, Dumond, Noah Steele (Heuvelton, NY/Heuvelton), Marco Ciccarelli (Rochester, NY/Webster-Schroeder), Chris Irakoze (Buffalo, NY/Middle Early College), and Hunter Sherman (Lockport, NY/Lockport) drove the offense throughout the evening. Tiago Salles (Porto Allegre, Brazil/Colegio Anchieta) was incredible in the midfield with his ball distribution and defensive efforts. Jack Schmittendorf (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) played quality minutes as well.

The Spartans will next host Thiel this Sunday with game time set for 5:00pm.