UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The No. 22 ranked Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer team finished this afternoon (Sept. 2) off with a 4-1 vicotory over the St. Joseph's (Ind.) Pumas at home in front of 145 loyal and supporting Cardinal fans.

The Cardinals (2-0-0) scored the first goal of the game on a shot off the foot of Zach Myers (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Eastern HS) when he found the back of the net for the first of his three goals on the afternoon.  The goal came off of an assist from Zach Vasold (Freeland, Mich. / Freeland HS).  The Cardinals would take the 1-0 lead into the half.

Myers would strike again at the 50 minute mark of the second half, this time on a nice lead pass from defensman Michael Lamb (Sunderland, England / Sandhill View School) to put the Cardinals up 2-0.

Lamb would would find the back of the net with his own goal in the 54th minute to give the Cardinals the 3-0 advantage.  Myers would finish off his hat trick in the 63rd minute off of a pass from Zack Minor (Hartland, Mich. / Hartland HS) that he was able to blast by the goalkeeper.

Bryan Webb would give the Pumas their only score of the of the afternoon at the 76:45 mark on a penalty kick.

Senior goalkeeper Jason Wise (Troy, Mich. / Troy HS) allowed just one goal, as he picked up his second win of the season.

"This was a great weekend for us to start the season. We chipped away today and it took us a while to get going, but we played very well overall. We were disappointed giving up a late goal with a mental error but all in all it was a positive weekend," commented Coach Wassermann.  "We always have a team first mentality but hats off to Zach Myers, five goals in a weekend against quality opponents is big time for any player.  We are looking forward to training this week ahead of another big weekend which includes our conference opener."

The Cardinals will return to action on Friday (Sept. 7) when they host the Mustangs of Marygrove College at 4:30 PM at the SVSU Soccer Complex.