Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The head coaching debut of
Ian Cameron will likely be one he will remember for a long time.
His Triton squad was dominant in its 2016 season opener, blowing out region opponent Union (Tenn.) University, 6-0, at the Turley Athletic Complex on Saturday night.
Cameron was happy to get rid of the butterflies in his stomach once the game started, but even happier to see his team execute some of the fundamentals they have worked to sharpen in the preseason.
"There were periods of the game where we did what we were working on in the preseason. The boys put early chances away, which makes the game easier," he said. "There were moments where we were very clean going forward and had good movement off the ball, something that we've been working on very heavily."
Eckerd struck early and often, putting the Bulldogs (0-2) in a difficult position to overcome.
Robert Labus put the Tritons on the board just five minutes into the season, taking a pass from
Westleigh Rush and finished past UU keeper Pedro Haniel.
As it turned out, that goal was just the beginning for the Eckerd offense.
Six minutes later, EC made it a 2-0 lead when
Matheus Assumpcao delivered a corner kick into the center of the box where Rush touched it to
Juan David Tejada near the six. Tejada fired it into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
Tejada found the goal again in the 39th minute, winning the ball and dribbling around a Union defender into space where he ripped a perfectly-place strike into the upper left corner.
Less than a minute later, newcomer
Moritz Hannemann almost exactly recreated Tejada's strike as he intercepted a bad pass and put a shot into the same spot for a 4-0 Triton lead.
The scoring quieted until the 70th minute when another Assumpcao corner kick led to an Eckerd goal. Delivering from the left side, he drove the ball to the far post where
Liam Guest headed it past Haniel.
Assumpcao then assisted on a third goal on a set piece near the left corner, sending it inside the six-yard box where Hannemann volleyed it into the net for the final goal of the contest.
The Eckerd defense, meanwhile, didn't allow Union many opportunities to score. The Bulldogs managed only five shots and keeper
Alex Gott turned away all three shots he faced.
The Tritons return to action on Wednesday night, hosting Webber International (Fla.) at 7:00 PM.
