Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the Columbia College men's soccer team was back on the field to kick off the 2017 campaign as they played host to the Central Methodist (Mo.) University Eagles in the first game of the regular season. The Cougars were able to pick up their first win of the year and improved to 1-0 after defeating the Eagles by a final score of 1-0.

The Cougars came out in the first half and had a tough time keeping up with the Eagles for the first few minutes of the game. However, they were able to pick up the pace as the game progressed and nearly took an early 1-0 lead 18 minutes into the half when a ball was played across the Eagles box to Adam Du Toit who volleyed a shot off the post. The rebound fell to the foot of Michael Mayberry who was able to put a shot on goal but a big save from the Eagles keeper kept the score locked at zero midway through the period.

Both sides continued to battle throughout the remainder of the half as each team had several scoring opportunities. However, the best opportunity came for the Eagles with about 10 minutes remaining in the half when a Central Methodist player was taken down in the box by a Columbia defender. The Eagles captain, Ricardo Olaya, stepped up and took the penalty for Central Methodist but a great save from Columbia College keeper, Nicolau Neto, kept the Eagles off the board.

The Cougars were finally able to break into the scoring column with two minutes remaining in the first half when they worked the ball deep into the Eagles zone before earning themselves a corner. Michael Mayberry took the corner for Columbia playing a short ball to Juan Pablo Agredo who played a ball to the back post where Adam Du Toit was waiting to head the ball into the back of the net to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead heading into the halftime break.

In the second half, Central Methodist came out and controlled the tempo early as they were able to create several scoring opportunities in the first few minutes of the period. The Cougars defense was able to handle the pressure throughout the half and kept the Eagles out of the back of the net as Columbia notched their first win of the season.

Nicolau Neto was in goal for Columbia College tonight as the senior goalkeeper made five saves on 12 shots for his first shutout victory of the season.

The Cougars are back in action on Wednesday, August 30^th when they travel to Olathe, Kansas, to take on the eighth ranked MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University Pioneers in a nonconference matchup. The game is set to start at 5:30 p.m.