EUNICE, La. – No. 5 LSU Eunice Men's Soccer picked up right where it left off this past spring with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Mississippi Gulf Coast to open the 2021 campaign on Friday at the Bengal Soccer Complex.  The Bengals (1-0) improved to 4-0 all-time in season openers under head coach Josh McReynolds.

"It was great to see our guys get the season off on a positive note,"  LSU Eunice head coach Josh McReynolds said.  "We are still very much in development mode this early in the year but I think our guys saw the potential of our team with some hard work still to come."
 
The Bengals got to work early as LSUE used its left side of the formation to great success.  Obeng Tabi (Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Evangeline HS) unleashed a dribbling display along the sideline before cruising past a pair of Bulldog defenders and connecting with Chol Chol (Snellville, GA, Tucker HS) for a doorstep goal just seven minutes into the contest.
 
Despite controlling the ball for 64 percent possession, it would take 55 more minutes until LSUE would get an insurance goal.  Tabi would again orchestrate another goal as he took a through ball from Aleksandar Vukovic (Beograd, Serbia, Zumunska Gimnazija) down the sideline and linked up with Jose Escobar (Fort Pierce, FL, Fort Pierce Central HS) for an empty net goal in the 63rd minute.
 
Luca Lera (Bolton, Ontario, Canada, St. Michael Catholic Secondary School) rifled his first career LSUE goal as he took the feed in the 77th minute from Emilio Segovia Gaytan (Mexico City, Mexico, Colegio Olinca) at the top of the box and neatly buried it to the far side.
 
LSUE outshot Mississippi Gulf Coast 16-9 with of those shots on frame.  Diego Montoya Casillas (Cuernavaca, Mexico, Instituto Oriente de Puebla) recorded his first shutout as a Bengal by thwarted two Gulf Coast offerings.
 
The Bengals will hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to face Tyler JC on Wednesday, August 25 at 7:30PM.