(COLUMBIA, Mo.- Oct. 4)—The McKendree College men’s soccer team picked up a 2-1 road win over Columbia College to move ahead of the Cougars and take over first-place in the American Midwest Conference.

    McKendree got on the board early, pressuring the Cougars into a mistake. Just two-minutes into the game Bearcat Tim Dew (Winchester, Hampshire/Peter Symonds) broke in on the right-side of the field and sent a crossing pass into the box. A Cougar defender attempted to clear the ball however he sent the ball into his own net, giving the Bearcats a quick 1-0 lead.

     The Bearcats extended their lead when Nicolas Mosca (Buenos Aires, Argentina/San Luis Gonzaga) scored with just 10-minutes remaining in the first-half. Mosca was fed the ball from Steve DeMoulin (Glen Carbon, Illinois/Edwardsville) who had beat a Cougar defender before setting up Mosca for the goal.

     Columbia cut the Bearcat lead to 2-1 when Marcos Fernandes slipped the ball into the far left of the net past Bearcat keeper Tim Steeg (St. Louis, Missouri/Chaminade). Steeg was injured on the play and was replaced by Santiago Hampton (Buenos Aires, Argentina/St. George's) with just over 20-minutes remaining in the game.

     Hampton was tested down the stretch coming up big with six-minutes remaining when he punched a crossing pass out of the box where three Cougar players were waiting.

     McKendree is now 7-3-2 overall and 3-0-1 in the AMC. The Bearcats will be in action again Friday at home when they take on Maryville University. Game time is set for 1 p.m.