The Waynesburg Yellow Jackets played the Thiel College Tomcats at John F. Wiley Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 8. The Yellow Jackets were able to achieve a victory, winning 5-0. The match ended a brief two-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets that began in the month of October.

Only one goal was scored in the first half by either team. It was made by junior midfielder Mason Lewis in the eighth minute, putting the Yellow Jackets up one at the end of the first half above the Tomcats, 1-0.

“I think we were pretty dominant for the entirety of the game, but after the first goal, we slowed down a little bit.” Lewis said. “The second half, we came out with more energy and were hungrier to score, which is how we were able to put four more goals in.”

As Lewis described, the Yellow Jackets showed a dominant performance in the last 20 minutes of the game with a total of four goals scored. The first was made by junior forward Matthew Serrano with an assist from senior forward Michael Kanu. Lewis scored another goal with an assist from sophomore midfielder Sarpong Kwabiah.

Then, within the last five minutes, junior forward Zachary Johnson proceeded to score two back-to-back goals within 30 seconds of each other to end the game, with assists from sophomore defender Sam Norris and freshman forward John Engel.

“I’m hoping we can carry this energy into the next two weeks because these upcoming games are super important for our rankings for tournament play,” Johnson said. 

During the game, Kwabiah received two yellow cards and, as such, won’t play in the next match.

“The past few games we have struggled to finish our chances, which led to some unfortunate losses even after great performances,” Lewis said. “Moving forward, I hope we continue to be clinical with our chances and have a sharper edge so we can be even more goal hungry.” 

Waynesburg is currently sitting at 7-4-1 in the overall season and 2-2-1 in the conference. The Yellow Jackets play the Saint Vincent Bobcats next at home on Saturday, Oct. 11.