Five different players scored last Saturday as the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team opened up Presidents’ Athletic Conference play with a statement.

Challenged with facing the one-win Saint Vincent Bearcats, the Yellow Jackets found the back of the net early and often en route to a 6-0 decision to start 1-0 in conference action.

The lone Waynesburg (4-6, 1-0) player to score two goals was freshman midfielder Thomas Robinson. Head coach Brad Heethuis said he was pleased to see the depth of his team shine in the victory.

“We’ve got a lot of depth, if you look at the roster there is no out-and-out scorer,” said Heethuis. “We have a number of guys who can carry that scoring load. I think that is one thing that makes us dangerous.”

For his efforts against the Bearcats (1-9, 0-1), Robinson was recognized as PAC Rookie of the Week.

Waynesburg, as of Tuesday, Oct. 2, ranks second in the PAC in goals per game and is tied for first in overall goals with 26. The Jackets also have the second most shots on goal per game with an average of 7.

Senior defenseman Tyler Sisler and sophomore forward Daniel Hott lead the way in goals with five, which is third in the PAC.

Along with the big day on offense, Waynesburg’s defense had its first clean sheet of the season, holding the Bearcats to just six shots on offense. Tightening up defensively was one thing that Heethuis said he and his staff wanted to see.

“The message going in to the game was stay disciplined defensively,” said Heethuis. “If we don’t get scored on we can’t lose. This game was a big one. We wanted to set the tone discipline wise in the first game of PAC play.”

The Yellow Jackets defense has allowed just one goal in the last two games. Sophomore goaltender Adam Dolan made four saves in the game and was forced to make just one of those saves in the second half.

“I was excited to get the clean sheet and I was really happy with the defensive performance,” said Dolan. “I didn’t have to face a lot.”

Dolan was lauded by the PAC for only allowing one goal, which was against #24 Mt. Union last week, over 180 minutes of time.

The Yellow Jackets came away with the win even though they were missing starting defensemen Steven Haines.

“The defense stepped up really well without Steven,” said Dolan. “They filled in the gaps really well even though we were fighting the injury bug.”

Looking ahead, the Jackets will move through PAC play starting with their next match Wednesday, past publication date. Heethuis does not want his team to get ahead of themselves but believes that the team should build off of the win.

“We have got to take it one game at a time,” said Heethuis. “Learn from Saturday and put it in to training on Monday and Tuesday…we need to get back to the basics of playing good soccer.”

The Jackets will have the weekend off and hit the pitch again next Wednesday, Oct. 10 when they host the Bethany Bison at 8 p.m.