Matthew, Jags stay hot with shutout of Dallas Christian College

Jervan Matthew and the Texas A&M University-Victoria men's soccer team kept their hot streak going on Saturday.

Matthew scored two goals within the first 15 minutes to spark the Jaguars (3-2) to a 4-0 win over Dallas Christian College at The Cage. The win extended A&M-Victoria's winning streak to three matches.

The streak matches the team's longest winning streak from last year.

"I'm very proud of the team," said head coach Vince Martinez. "Me and (assistant) coach Curtis (Watson) are trying to implement certain things. When you get a few results, I think it pays off and we get the guys buying in to what we're doing. I think it goes a long way. Getting a shutout today, that's our goal every game, if we can. The guys are coming through."

Matthew, a Cochrane, Dominica, native, opened the scoring with a goal in the fourth minute after finishing off a cross by Baillie O'Reilly. The two, who connected for three total goals against Texas Wesleyan on Thursday, combined again in the 15^th minute to make it 2-0 with Hans-Kristian Grotting also earning an assist on the goal.

Matthew has three goals and two assists this season, all of which have come in the last two games.

"It all comes down to work," Matthew said. "Baillie has been doing good getting the ball in. I just know I have to get in there to help the team. It's a new position (up top), but I'm comfortable playing it."

The Jaguars tripled their lead in the 35^th minute with a goal from Yahir Pena (2) on an assist from Felipe Rangel.

But the highlight of the game came in the 76^th minute as substitute Kehinde Olajide, one minute into his first collegiate appearance, latched on to a pass from redshirt freshman goalkeeper Diego Rosa, also making his first career appearance, to cap the scoring and secure the 4-0 result.

"At the beginning of the game, I was looking at (Dallas Christian's) back line and they were pretty high up," Rosa said. "I knew I had to send a long ball. I just saw Kehinde come out of nowhere and I'm so happy for him."

The scoreline reflected another dominant performance for A&M-Victoria as the Jaguars out-shot the Crusaders (1-2-2) 18-4 and didn't allow Dallas Christian to take a shot in the second half.

That led to a combined shutout for Rosa and starter Tyler Kaeppeli, who now boasts 17 career shutouts. He is two shy of tying Brian Redmond's record of 19 (2014-2016).

Matthew led the attack with four shots. The Jaguars had five players with multi-shot performances on Saturday.

Next, the Jaguars host former Red River Athletic Conference foe Huston-Tillotson at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.