Point Park erupts for 10-0 win over Brescia (Ky.), wins RSC home opener

PITTSBURGH -- Point Park University men's soccer was glad to be back at Highmark Stadium on Thursday night. The Pioneers erupted for a 10-0 win over visiting Brescia (Ky.) University in the River States Conference opener for both teams. 

It was the first game at Highmark for Point Park since the season opener Aug. 19. Road trips and a home game at the AHN Montour Complex had the Pioneers away from their friendly confines until conference play. All of that got reversed Thursday night along with a stretch of two losses and two ties in the previous four games. 

The Pioneers had a big quantity of goals with also a strong quality of goals with several nice tallies along the way. The defense also held its end of things posting the second shutout of the season and the second in a row. The Pioneers have given up just a single own goal in the last five halves of soccer. 

The Pioneers staked out a 4-0 halftime lead over Brescia and piled on six more goals the final 45 minutes to break out of a bit of a scoring drought. The Pioneers were coming off two straight ties, the second of which was a scoreless draw last Sunday. 

Point Park changed that around with 10 goals from eight different players on the night and seven assists to go with it. Jaume Genovard scored twice to power the first-half performances, and Giovanni Pezzi scored twice in the second half as the subs got into the act with many beautiful goals. 

The Pioneers dominated with a 29-2 advantage in shots, which included 15-1 in the first half and 12-1 in the second half. The Pioneers came out hot with three goals in the first 10 minutes. The first came from Bruno Lancellotti with a finish deep in the box in the fourth minute. 

Minutes later, Korby Ring found Moritz Sarfert for a finish in the box and a 2-0 lead. Genovard scored twice more before the half was through in the 10th and 33rd mintes. 

Philipp Harder, who had two assists in the first half, started the second-half scoring with a tally off an assist from Genildo Postimo. 

The Point Park bench took it from there as the Pioneers' final five goals all came from non-starters. Pezzi got that started with his rocket to the top of the net off a free kick in the 66th minute. Nils Benning had a goal and an assist in the second half. He found room at the top of the box for his goal in the 70th minute. Benning later assisted on Pezzi's second goal, another well-struck ball. 

Lucas Souza picked up two assists in the second half. The first one set up Felipe Menezes for a nice strike. The second was on a beautiful corner kick taken and finished on a header by Peter Holt. Brescia goalkeeper Chase Garrett made 10 saves to prevent further damage on the scoreboard. 

Point Park will continue its RSC homestand on Saturday, Sept. 23 versus Oakland City (Ky.). Kickoff is 1:30 p.m. at Highmark Stadium for a rematch of last year's conference playoff quarterfinal matchup at the same location.