BRISTOL, Tenn. --- Artur Marques scored twice during a three-goal outburst in a span of 10 1/2 minutes as Tusculum University defeated King University 3-0 in non-conference men's soccer action Wednesday afternoon.
Gui Busato also scored for the Pioneers (3-0-0), who outshot the Tornado (2-1-0) by a 30-3 margin, including 23-3 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Tusculum defense did not allow a shot on goal to help Pioneer keeper Nicolas Leite to his third straight shutout victory to open the season.
The Pioneers are off to their first 3-0-0 start since 2016, and have not allowed a goal in any of their first three matches for the first time in program history. Tusculum has recorded three straight shutouts for the first time since 2018, and last earned three consecutive clean sheets on the road during the 2015 season.
Busato broke a scoreless tie in the 77th minute, while Marques added goals in the 80th and 88th minutes for the Pioneers. Tusculum, ranked third in the Southeast Region by the United Soccer Coaches and receiving votes nationally, has outscored its opponents 7-0 to begin the season, including 6-0 in the second half.
Tusculum had the first shot attempt of the match in the 10th minute, as a blast from Mo Bouta sailed high and wide of the far corner. In the 12th minute, a cross to Ludvig Radberg was directed wide by King keeper Gauthier Lumale.
The Pioneers kept up the pressure, and had a scoring chance in the 15th minute but a header by J-P Vital was wide of the target. Radberg had another attempt in the 17th minute but was off to the right on the shot.
In the 26th minute, a long shot from outside 30 yards from the Pioneers' Federico Belintende was cradled by Lumale for his second save. Asbjorn Saevik had a long attempt from a sharp angle in the 33rd minute that went away from the far post.
Tusculum had a chance in the box in the 39th minute, but a header attempt from Pedro Concheso went wide of the short side. The Pioneers would end the first half with a 7-0 edge in shot attempts over the Tornado, but scoreless.
In the second half, the Pioneers had two scoring opportunities in the box in the first two minutes, but back-to-back tries from Radberg and Bouta were blocked down by the Tornado defense. Ndubueze Henry had a shot from the far right side that was punched out by Lumale in the 52nd minute, followed moments later by a blast from Concheso that was well high and wide.
Tusculum continued to control the match on offense, but Henry missed wide in the 56th minute. After yielding the first 13 shot attempts of the match, King finally had its first opportunity in the 57th minute but Aaron McCrory was high of the Tusculum goal with his shot.
The Pioneers built a scoring chance in the 63rd minute on a good through pass from Isak Tallwin to Radberg, but his one-touch shot went wide of the left post. Off a free kick in the 70th minute, Marques had two shots blocked down in the box, which led to a corner kick that went wide off the head of Michele Di Miele.
Tusculum did get a shot on goal in the 72nd minute as a run into the box by Henry resulted in an attempt that was grabbed by Lumale. King had its second shot attempt in the 74th minute, but Pedro Herrera's long try off a free kick was smothered by the defense and covered by Leite.
The Pioneers had a great chance to break the stalemate in the 76th minute as a long ball from Tallwin went past two players and bounced off the far post. Di Miele would follow a shot that went wide of the target moments later.
In the 77th minute, the Pioneers finally broke through on their 24th shot of the match. Saevik carried the ball down the right side and crossed to Busato on the opposite side, who volleyed a shot that went past Lumale for his first goal of the season at 76:49.
Just three minutes later, the Pioneers extended their lead to 2-0 as a corner kick from Cristobal Morales went to Marques in front, who buried his first career goal at 79:48.
King had its best scoring chance of the match in the 84th minute, as a free kick was delivered into the box for Herrera, whose header attempt was just wide of the near post.
Marques would collect his second goal of the match with 2:45 remaining as he headed home a corner kick from Di Miele. Morales had a bid for a fourth goal for the Pioneers with just over 90 seconds left, but Lumale would make his fifth and final save of the day.
In addition to its lopsided shot advantage, Tusculum had a 13-0 edge in corner kicks over King. The Tornado were whistled for 13 fouls to 10 for the Pioneers, while King was flagged three times for offsides and Tusculum was called twice.
The Pioneers will visit Lenoir-Rhyne for their South Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. The Bears played to a 2-2 draw with Young Harris on Sunday in their first match of the season.
