Box Score by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-Sophomore midfielder Erik Pajunk scored three goals and added an assist Wednesday night as the Barton College men's soccer team erupted for five second-half goals in a 6-2 thumping of Queens University of Charlotte.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 5 in the NCAA DII Southeast Region, found themselves down 2-1 at halftime to an inspired Royals lineup, but just a scant 40 seconds after intermission, Barton had a 3-2 lead it would not relinquish.
Barton, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Matt Akins, improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Conference Carolinas with its fifh straight win. Queens exited 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the league. Barton has a big matchup at Lees-McRae College at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
"We just wanted to get the ball out of our defensive end of the field and take it to them," Akins said of his halftime talk. "We needed to get some energy and put some life into the game because the first half was boring. We got some individual players involved and we stepped it up and didn't allow them to possess the ball. We just really took the game to them in the last 45 minutes. That's the creative ability these guys have when they are playing their best."
Pajunk (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), who entered the match as the NCAA DII assist leader and one of the top point producers, tacked seven points onto his season totals with some more flashy play. His hat trick gives the 2010 Conference Freshman of the Year 10 goals this season. He also has eight assists for 28 points.
Pajunk scored just under five minutes into the match when he took a pass from Matt Campbell (Baton Rouge, La.) outraced two defenders and blasted the ball past Queens keeper John Rush. The Royals answered that goal in just 64 seconds when Jeremy Chambers scored off a Felipe Netto assist. That duo teamed up again just 15 seconds before intermission, working a perfect give-and-go for the 2-1 edge.
Akins and the Bulldogs were not happy with the late-half letdown and responded with a flurry. Freshman midfielder Jonathan Rembecki scored off an assist from sophomore Danilo Matos (Lauro de Freitas, Brazil) just 24 seconds after intermission and Pajunk netted his second goal off an assist from Dante De Luca (Rio de Janeiro) just 40 seconds after the break.
Pajunk cashed in his 10th goal of the year in the 50th minute with a rocket shot off a double assist from Matos and Ricardo Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro). Pajunk's made a nifty heel pass in front of the goalie box in the 54th minute to De Luca, who ran onto the ball and ripped it just under the crossbar for a 5-2 lead. Matos netted the final goal at 72:02 off a cross from Scottish freshman David Welsh. Matos lunged past a defender to put the ball past the keeper inside the right post.
The Bulldogs finished with a 12-5 cushion in shots on goal. Senior Barton netminder Brian Riesenberg, the reigning Conference Player of the Week, had three saves while Rush totaled six for the Royals.
The last time Barton won seven games in a season was in 2004, when it finished 7-8-1 overall, so the fortunes for Bulldogs soccer are on the rise.
"We're just taking it one game at a time," Akins said. "We're going to run into a team Saturday at Lees-McRae that has always been a powerhouse in this league, so we'll be playing in a hostile environment. And, because we're playing well, we're the ones with the bullseye on our backs now. We're a team to beat, so instead of chasing (like in past years), we're being chased, so we just need to put complete games together. If we do that, who knows how good we could be."
