WILSON, N.C. – The Barton men's soccer team (8-7-3) celebrated Senior Day in style with a 6-2 win over Virginia State (1-9-3) Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale at the Bulldogs Athletic Complex.
Barton junior defender
Kai Thurston (Harleston, ENGLAND) and junior forward
Eduardo Forte (Fortaleza, BRAZIL) both scored twice as the Bulldogs notched a season-high in goals in the triumph.
Senior forward
Blake Grove (Newstead, AUSTRALIA) opened the scoring in the 23rd minute then Thurston and Forte took over from there as both players tallied back-to-back goals, respectively, to turn the contest into a route. Forte added an assist for five total points.
Barton held a 30-12 advantage in shots taken while senior goalkeeper
Alejandro Sepulveda (Cali, COLOMBIA) earned the victory in goal.
Virginia State's Sebastine Daniel (Chesapeake, Va.) scored on a penalty kick while Ben Allen (Virginia Beach, Va.) added a goal despite the setback. The Trojans' goalkeeper, Elijah Fernandez (Richmond, Va.), suffered the loss despite eight saves on the day.
Barton is the fifth seed in the 2025 Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer Championship and will host No. 12 Ferrum on Wednesday evening beginning at 6:00 p.m. Virginia State caps the regular season with a home match against Shaw on Tuesday starting at 1:00 p.m.
