Early goals fuel road win for Mustangs

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Mount Mercy scored three times in the game's initial 30 minutes and defeated Grand View on the road for the first time since 2015 by a score of 3-1 in Wednesday's Heart of America Athletic Conference match at Cownie Complex.

The Mustangs remain unbeaten at 4-0-3 overall and 1-0-1 in conference play and also snapped a seven-match winless streak against the Vikings. Grand View, who dropped out of the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll this week, dipped to 5-3-0 and 0-2-0 in the Heart.

Antonio Cuellar started the scoring with his fourth goal of the season just seven minutes into the match. Robin Sarret made it 2-0 about eight minutes later before Keita Karasawa wrapped up the scoring in the 30th minute. The Mustangs maintained that 3-0 lead through most of the second half before Jayce Berger got the Vikings on the board in the 79th minute.

Sebastian Thanner picked up his first collegiate win in goal, stopping one of Grand View's two shots on goal over the full 90 minutes. Bosco Pery had three saves for the Vikings. Mount Mercy hosts 22nd-ranked Missouri Valley on Homecoming this weekend. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 pm on Saturday at Hadzic Field.