Box Score Confidence oozed from the Marauders on Saturday as they pumped six goals past the Waterloo Warriors in their OUA opener at Ron Joyce Stadium. Three goals in the span of four minutes staked McMaster to a 4-0 first half lead, and the Marauders added two more to the tally in the second to complete the 6-0 demolition.
Sophomore winger Yunus Mollayev scored a brace in the first half, while Sasha Ricciuti, Marco Gennaccaro, Juan Buitrago and Gersi Xhuti added goals for McMaster. Goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo was rarely tested, but stopped all five of the shots he faced on Saturday.
A lively start greeted the two teams, with each pushing the pace in search of a breakthrough in the opening minutes. Mollayev and Xhuti gave a preview of the fireworks to come in the eighth minute, when the latter very nearly grabbed the game's first goal after a gorgeous give-and-go, blazing his shot just over the bar. A minute later, it was Mollayev who opened the scoring, with Brandon Guttierez this time playing the role of creator, picking out the winger with a pinpoint lob before Mollayev turned and curled an effort just inside the far post.
Danger flared for the Marauders midway through the half as Warrior winger Nic Ribeiro began to find space to operate, twice firing shots Cavalluzzo's way without getting past the McMaster goalkeeper. His inability to level the match was punished in the 36th minute, when Mollayev flirted with the far post yet again, this time controlling a Xhuti header and slotting home.
That goal opened the floodgates for McMaster, as the teams were barely back into regular service when Ricciuti poached a chance along the left wing and rolled a shot past the hapless Waterloo goalkeeper. Gennaccaro piled onto the stunned Warriors two minutes later, driving the visitors' defenders back with a spirited run and shielding the ball before thumping a shot inside the far post. With the onslaught complete, the Marauders took a 4-0 lead into the break and shook up the lineup to introduce several players off the bench.
Personnel changes did little to alter the look of the match, however, and Buitrago potted the game's fifth goal just four minutes into the half. Not to be left out, Xhuti got his name on the scoresheet in the 51st, before the Marauders effectively quieted the match and rode out the heavy victory.
With their first win in the bag, the Marauders now face a considerably stiffer task in a day's time, as the defending OUA and CIS champion York Lions visit Ron Joyce Stadium on Sunday. That conference and national championship rematch gets underway at 3:15 p.m. and is free of charge to spectators.
