Columbia, Mo. - The Columbia College men's soccer team earned a hard fought 2-1 victory over Culver-Stockton College on Tuesday evening. The Cougars move to 3-4-2 on the season. The win notches head coach Nathan Mason's first victory at R. Marvin Owens Field. 

The Cougars struck first in the 18th minute when Josh Sutton found the back of the net off an assist from Cameron Watts. Columbia carried the 1-0 advantage into halftime despite being out shot 2-1 in the opening period.

Culver-Stockton (2-6-4, 1-4-2 HAAC) responded in the second half with an equalizer from Nils Reifenberger in the 65th minute, assisted by Kaden Fugate, knotting the score at 1-1 and setting up a tense final stretch.

Columbia answered back with the eventual game-winner in the 81st minute, as Wil Essner scored his first goal of the season with an assist from Joshua Peterson.

The Cougars dominated possession and offensive opportunities throughout the match, out shooting Culver-Stockton 20-6 overall and putting 11 shots on target compared to just two for the Wildcats.

Columbia will look to keep building on this momentum as they face Viterbo University at home on Saturday, Oct. 4th at 12:00 p.m.