FORT WORTH – The Texas Wesleyan University men's soccer team had a defensive fight on their hands in the first half of Thursday night's non-conference matchup with Texas A&M-Texarkana (0-3) at Martin Field. It didn't last.
 
In 11 minutes, the Rams (4-2) scored four consecutive goals and added a fifth in the 84th minute to cap a wild 5-0 victory over the Eagles. After out-shooting TAMUT 6-1 in the first half, Texas Wesleyan out-shot TAMUT 15-2 over the final 45 minutes, getting 11 of its 21 shots on target.
 
Five different players scored goals – George Battersby, Mateo Gonzalez, Lee Benting, Jahvain Russell and Alberto Lopez while three different players registered assists: Battersby, Gonzalez and Jermaine Morris.
 
Battersby scored first. A bouncing ball in the 60th minute found the foot of the senior, who found just enough room inside the right post to sneak it through. It was the fifth shot of the half, as Wesleyan came out firing attempting to get its fourth win after Sunday's game against Houston-Victoria was cancelled (weather).
 
Considering how back-and-forth the first half was, the first goal felt like it could be the game's last, but the Rams kept pushing forward. 58 seconds later and counter-attacking the Eagles' offside, Battersby got the ball to Gonzalez' head for the quick 2-0 advantage. Momentum fully swung.
 
In the 65th minute, a Diego Alverez shot from the top of the box hit the crossbar as the Eagles were reeling. Lee Benting scored his first goal as a Ram in the 67th minute from just inside the right corner of the box for a 3-0 lead.
 
Now putting significant pressure on the Eagle's to make something happen, Texas A&M-Texarkana got a little more desperate. With Texas Wesleyan threatening yet again, Tomas Lopez was given a yellow card for his foul in the box, allowing Jahvain Russell to knock in his first taste of the net in 2018.
 
Battersby got three different shots off in the 76th and 78th minutes – both were blocked, the barrage of Ram attacks drowning out the efforts of the Eagles, who for much of the early game controlled the ball and the best opportunities. It wasn't meant to be, the Rams made sure of it.
 
The final goal – another first – came from Alberto Lopez as the celebration of domination could barely be contained in the Rams' bench.
 
Bastian Blumenberg kept a clean sheet in-goal for the Rams, needing just two saves to preserve the shutout.
 
RAMBLINGS
Wesleyan has scored three goals in 11 minutes plenty of times over the last decade, but when was the last time the Rams have scored four goals in 11 minutes time? That record dates back all the way to October 17, 2009 when Texas Wesleyan blew out Southwestern Adventist 16-0. The Rams at one point scored five goals in a nine-minute stretch of that route.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
One more out-of-conference game sends the Rams to Louisiana to face LSU-Shreveport Saturday at 3 p.m. Conference play gets underway in Plainview Tuesday September 25. The Rams aren't back at home until the 29th against Central Christian.