The Master's University men's soccer team opened Great Southwest Athletic Conference play in style Friday, crushing defensing champs La Sierra 6-2 at Reese Field behind a five-goal outburst in the second half.

In the scorching heat, Hunter Phelps broke the scoreless tie in the 27th minute off a Trent Rickard assist, and Evan Hurley made it 2-0 right before the break, finishing a feed from MK Oredi. Rickard took over from there, scoring twice and adding two assists in a dominant second-half stretch. Adiel Kaduya chipped in a goal and an assist, and Zenden Berbari capped the scoring in the 70th minute. La Sierra got goals from Daniel Garcia and a late penalty kick from Elias Quintanar Macias, but never threatened a real comeback.

"I'm very proud of the team to get through the adverse weather today. Our offense woke up later in the half and gave us a nice cushion against a good team," TMU Head Coach Jim Rickard said. "Any time you beat the defending champs, it's a good day. They are a very skilled and dangerous team and we have a lot of respect for them."

The Mustangs poured on the pressure all afternoon, out-shooting the Golden Eagles 32-14 with 13 shots on goal. Franco Barba made five saves in goal to help seal it, and TMU controlled the corner kick battle 8-5. La Sierra had a player sent off with a red card in the second half during a chippy second half.  

"I was super proud that we had multiple goal scorers," Coach Rickard said. "Also, I though Zach Bates had a very good game on defense. The conditions were tough but we persevered and ended up playing nearly everyone."

The win moves TMU to 2-2-2 overall and 1-0-0 in GSAC play. The Mustangs travel Thursday to take on Hope International in their next GSAC test at OC Great Park.