(KIRKSVILLE, Mo.) – Matt Kimball scored his team-leading sixth and seventh goals of the season, and Bobby Larkin reached double-digit assists with three on the afternoon, as the Truman men's soccer team won its fourth straight in handing Upper Iowa a 5-0 shutout on Monday afternoon at the Truman Soccer Park.

 

Kimball (Kirkwood, Mo., Kirkwood) wasted no time getting the Bulldogs (6-2) on the board, as he found pay-dirt just 1:31 into the match, putting in a Larkin (St. Louis, Mo., Parkway) rebound for a 1-0 advantage. The senior duo made a second connection 11 minutes later, giving Truman a 2-0 lead which upheld until the break.

 

Truman then continued to apply pressure in the second half, firing 24 shots (37 for the match) and scoring three times, as senior Dan Meagher (Chesterfield, Mo., SLU High) took a Kimball feed for a goal in the 65^th minute before freshman Daniel Jack (Lake Saint Louis, Mo., Holt) scored off a double assist by Larkin and junior Jonathan Brown (Perth, Scotland, Auchterarder) before making it a multi-goal game with a header off a Brown free kick a minute and eight seconds later for the 5-0 final margin.

 

The Bulldogs pounded UIU keeper Jordan Bell all afternoon, putting 18 of their 37 shots on net, while Bulldog netminder Tyler Knierim (Hartsburg, Mo., Southern Boone) was forced to make just two saves. Truman also took nine corner kicks to only two for the Peacocks (6-5-2).

 

Monday's match marked the third straight game that the offense exploded, running the three-match total to 16 goals and bringing the season average to 2.88 goals per game. Larkin also continued his current red-hot run, bringing his season assist total to 11, including ten in the past three games.

 

Truman will have the rest of the week off to prepare for a key match at Lewis (Ill.) University this coming Sunday (Oct. 17) at 12 pm. The Flyers were ranked fourth in the first official Midwest regional poll, while Truman found itself third in the South Central region. A new poll will be released tomorrow (Oct. 12) afternoon.