Pikeville, KY – Men's soccer continued a thrilling opening stretch Wednesday afternoon, taking down Midway 5-3 in front of a home opener crowd at Bob Amos Grass Field. The Bears move to 2-0 on the season, tying the all-time series with the Eagles 2-2.

Freshman Daron Baumann made a statement in his home debut, sending a barrage of shots on goal and finishing the game with a hat trick. Baumann, a Johannesburg, South Africa native, becomes the first Bear since the 2019 season to record three or more goals in a single contest.

Richard Wohl shot twice, landing his second shot of the season, while Thivesh Naiker fired his first collegiate goal.

Relentless in their offensive attack, the Bears showered the goal with shots, recording 19 total with 11 coming on frame. Bears keeper, and recent MSC Defender of the Week Adam Di Millo, snagged a season-high five saves, maintaining an impressive .769 save percentage through week two.

A penalty kick in the sixth minute pushed the Eagles to an early advantage, staying up 1-0 almost the entirety of the opening half. The Bears totaled seven shots in the first 45 minutes, featuring two from Fabian Carrasco, and one from Baumann, Isak Neese, Yuri Rocha, Thivesh Naiker, and Francisco Medina. With less than five minutes to play, Naiker sent a pass forward to Wohl who found net to tie the game.

It was Baumann's show from the start of the second half as he connected for his first goal on an assist from Nikolay Nikolov in the 51^st minute. After a near miss just two minutes later, Baumann fired again to put the Bears up 3-1 off of a dime from Rocha.

Baumann inked his hat trick in the 67^th minute, scoring on a pass from Nikolov which gave the Bears a 4-1 advantage. Midway caught a second wind and upped the offensive intensity with a series of shots, scoring in the 70^th minute, but were quickly answered by a Naiker goal served up by Jakob Oldham.

Bears men's soccer returns to the pitch on Saturday, September 3^rd as they head to Bluefield to take on the Rams.