San Antonio, TX - The No. 5 Trinity University Men's Soccer team (16-1-1) opened the NCAA National Tournament with an emphatic statement on Saturday night at Paul McGinlay Field, rolling past Hardin-Simmons University (6-9-3) in a dominant 5-0 round one victory to advance to the second round.

The Tigers controlled the match from start to finish, but the breakthrough arrived late in the first half after sustained pressure. In the 42nd minute, freshman midfielder Hodge MacDonald (Hertford, England / Haileybury) broke the deadlock, scoring his first-ever collegiate goal by blasting the ball into the net from inside the six-yard box after the returning Luke Chandler (Glasgow, Scotland / Balfron) had a header excellently saved. Just over a minute later, Joey Perryman caught the defender napping, latching onto a ball in behind and being brought down in the penalty area. Up stepped Alex Ramirez (Houston, Texas / Humble), who confidently buried the ball into the right-hand roof of the net, to score his second penalty of the season and give the Tigers a commanding 2-0 advantage heading into halftime. 

Trinity carried that momentum through the second half and continued to overwhelm the Cowboys. The 60th minute rolled around, and with the Tigers looking to seal the game at 3-0, Max Salinas (Austin, Texas / Austin) jinked his way through the penalty area but was clumsily brought down to give Trinity their second penalty of the evening. This time up stepped the Tigers' designated taker, Samuel Theiss (Boerne, Texas / Boerne), who calmly slotted home his 12-yard effort into the bottom left-hand corner, marking his 13th goal of the season.

The Tigers added two more to punctuate their dominance. In the 68th minute, Luke Mayfield (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) reacted first to a loose ball after a corner and bundled home Trinity's fourth. Then, with under ten minutes to play, the Tigers' depth shone through, as Finnegan Saunders (Albuquerque, New Mexico / Sandia Prep) broke free on the left flank and squared a ball across to Joey Perryman (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound), who smashed home the fifth goal from the top of the box into the bottom right-hand corner.

Goalkeeper Jayden Schell (Dallas, Texas / Plano) secured the shutout with two saves before Brandon Gongora (San Antonio, Texas / Madison) closed out the final 18 minutes in net. Trinity finished with a 17-6 edge in shots and an 8-1 advantage in corners, controlling every phase of play.

With a 5-0 thrashing, the Tigers stamp their mark on the NCAA tournament as serious contenders for the national title 

Up Next

The Tigers face a short turnaround as they advance to round two of the NCAA National Tournament, where they will face off against local rivals Texas Lutheran University tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. on Paul McGinlay Field, with a place in the NCAA Sweet 16 on the line.