PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The Lake Erie College men's soccer team delivered a dominant performance Thursday night, defeating Ohio Dominican University 4-0 at Campus Field behind a record-tying hat trick from
Alex Banjac.
Banjac's three goals tied the Lake Erie men's soccer program record for goals scored in a single game.
Banjac opened the scoring in the 12th minute, connecting on a pass from
Nicolas Vagujhelyi to give the Storm an early 1-0 advantage. Lake Erie continued to control the attack throughout the opening half, generating 11 shots while limiting the Panthers to two.
The Storm quickly added to their lead after halftime. In the 49th minute,
Veljko Radovanovic set up
Banjac for his second goal of the night. Less than 10 minutes later,
Banjac converted a penalty kick after
Radovanovic was fouled in the box to complete the hat trick and extend Lake Erie's advantage to 3-0.
Cal Babiash capped the scoring in the 68th minute, finishing a pass from
Piet Mertens for his second goal of the season.
Lake Erie controlled the game from start to finish, outshooting Ohio Dominican 22-4 and placing 11 attempts on goal. The Storm also held the Panthers without a corner kick.
Goalkeeper
Patrick Bassett made three saves to record the shutout, including a late stop in the 89th minute to preserve the clean sheet.
With the victory, Lake Erie improves to 3-2-2 overall and remain undefeated (2-0-1) in G-MAC play. The Storm will travel to Canton on Saturday, September 19, to face Malone at 3 p.m.
