Benjamin Tembo scored first and last Thursday afternoon and Casey Phillips notched another shutout as The Master's University opened Golden State Athletic Conference play with a decisive 3-0 victory over visiting Menlo.
The win extended the Mustangs' unbeaten streak to five matches and improved their overall record to 6-1-2.
Tembo, who now has a team-high 21 points on nine goals and three assists, didn't take long to get the Mustang offense rolling. Taking a pass from senior defender Tristin Rochow, the Malawi native dribbled toward the net and slotted the ball past Oaks' goalie Julio Naranjo and into the bottom left corner for a 1-0 lead. It turned out that Tembo's fifth game-winning goal of the season would be all the Mustangs needed but there was more offense left in their tank.
Phillips preserved the one-goal margin at the 13:27 mark of the opening half, stopping a shot off the foot of Menlo's Leonardo Barcellos. It was the senior keeper's lone save of the half.
The Mustangs dominated the tempo in the first half to the tune of 14 total shots, six of those on goal and if it wasn't for Naranjo's five saves, the game would have quickly grown into a mismatch.
It didn't and TMU took the slightest of leads to halftime.
However, that advantage doubled just 1:03 into the second half when Luis Garcia-Sosa booted one past Naranjo and into the bottom right corner of the net for the third goal of his sophomore season and a 2-0 lead. Junior Trevor Mangan notched his second assist of the year on the scoring play.
That goal drew the attention of Coach Jim Rickard, who said, "Luis scored a real momentum goal one minute into the second half that really helped us."  The 27th-year head coach had equal praise for Mangan, too, stating, "He played a great game up top and provided the link we've been looking for this season."
Just over 21 minutes later, Tembo struck again, capping off the afternoon's scoring when he stole the ball and scored from the top of the box in unassisted fashion at 67:04.
At that point, the match was in the bag but there was more to play for, like a shutout. Phillips, who was tested only once in the first half, faced more shots on goal in the second stanza and turned away all four. He recorded a save at 66:35, then turned two more away in a 2:15 window about nine minutes later and then preserved the shutout with another save at the 87:54 mark.
Phillips, who finished with five saves, notched his career-high fourth shutout of the season.
Rickard has no illusions about opening GSAC play with a win, saying, "It's only one game, but it was encouraging to see us put things together. We need to put this behind us now and focus on Saturday against a dangerous William Jessup team."
That focus will be tested Saturday at 1:30pm on Reese Field.
