Hestnes' Hat Trick Leads Xavier Past Cincinnati Christian in Season Opener, 6-0

Friday, August 24

XU Soccer Complex

7 PM

Xavier University

1-0

Cincinnati Christian

0-1

Cincinnati Christian

Xavier

Hestnes' Hat Trick Leads Xavier Past Cincinnati Christian in Season Opener, 6-0

08.24.18 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Simen Hestnes posted a hat trick, the first of his career, all in the first 32 minutes of the match as Xavier men's soccer cruised to a 6-0 win over visiting Cincinnati Christian on Friday night at XU Soccer Complex.

The Musketeers jumped on the board in the eighth minute as Hestnes and Otim connected on back-to-back scores within 17 seconds of each other. Xavier then got two more Hestnes scores before the break, opening the game up.

Cincinnati Christian managed just one shot on the night as XU piled up 25, adding second half scores from Joash Sutherland and Karl Bercy.

NEXT UP

• The Musketeers improve to 1-0 to start the season and will get right back to action on Sunday, traveling to Northwestern for a 5 p.m. ET first kick in Chicago. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com and follow @XavierMSOC on Twitter for the latest updates.

NOTABLE

• The goal tally was the most for Xavier since August 28, 2015 when the Musketeers won their season opener against Eastern Illinois by a score of 8-0.
• Simen Hestnes recorded a hat trick in the first 32 minutes of the match, marking the first three goal match of his career. It was the first hat trick by an XU player since at least 2010.
• Derrick Otim scored his first goal since the 2016 season in the first half and now has four in his XU career.
• Joash Sutherland's second half goal was the first of his Xavier career.
• Karl Bercy's second half goal was the first of his Xavier career.
• Bryce Curran had a pair of assists in the match to give him three in his XU career.
• Sean Wilson and Payton Miller both picked up their second career assists in the match.
• Tomek Pauer and Cameron Belle each registered an assist in their respective Xavier debuts.
• XU used three keepers to record a shutout as Zachary Nelson, Colin Hanley and Nate Logan all saw time between the pipes.
• Xavier improved to 4-3-2 in its last nine season openers and 14-23-8 all-time in opening matches.
• Head coach Andy Fleming improved to 93-48-24 since taking over at Xavier and is now seven wins from the 100-win plateau.

HOW THEY SCORED

8' | Xavier 1-0 | Simen Hestnes beat the CCU keeper on a penalty kick to open the scoring after Bryce Curran was fouled in the box.
8' | Xavier 2-0 | 17 seconds later, Tomek Pauer advanced the ball to Bryce Curran who found Derrick Otim on the right side of the box. Otim then laced a shot to the left corner to make it 2-0.
23' | Xavier 3-0 | Simen Hestnes received a long pass over the top from Sean Wilson and beat his defender
32' | Xavier 4-0 | Simen Hestnes took in a high pass from Payton Miller over the middle and directed a header left of the keeper for his third goal of the match.
60' | Xavier 5-0 | Joash Sutherland received a ball at the top of the box off a rebound and make two moves before sending a high curling shot over the keeper's head.
60' | Xavier 6-0 | Karl Bercy came streaking up the middle to finish off a rebound after a shot attempt from the left side of the box by Cameron Belle.

VIDEO