OUAZ men's soccer just missed out on a bid to the NAIA National Tournament, but the successful 2019 season continued on at the NCCAA National Tournament on Monday. The Spirit were disappointed that they were not named to the NAIA tournament, and they turned all the frustrations into a very positive performance on day one of the NCCAA tournament.
 
OUAZ scored four goals in the first 8:18 of the match, and did not look back, as they defeated Ecclesia College 13-1 in Kissimmee, Fla. It is the second consecutive year the Spirit won its first match of the NCCAA tournament.
 
Edoardo Venutlo got the scoring started for the Spirit, and he never looked back. He added three more, and his four total goals in the game is the most by a player in a single game in program history.
 
Venutolo was in for Samuel George, who did not make the trip due to injury. While Venutolo's minutes and production fluxuated throughout the season, he made it count when the team needed him to step in.
 
"[Venutolo] did an incredible job for us," OUAZ head coach Matt Gow said. "Edo didn't skip a beat, and that's the beauty of our team. We can put different guys up top, and they can score goals, which is very uncommon for a lot of teams."
 
Venutolo is not the only player for OUAZ to have an offensive explosion. Cristian Gennaro and Jordan Riley each scored three of their own, making it the third game two or more Spirit players have scored multiple goals in the same game.
 
OUAZ will now face Grace College in its second and final pool game of the 2019 NCCAA Tournament. The Spirit lost to Grace 2-0 in pool play last season, but both teams are different. OUAZ is the higher seed this time around, and they have a lot of firepower from every position. Gow has a day off to prepare his team for the important matchup.
 
"[Grace] is a good team," Gow said. "I know they're stingy, I know they don't give up a lot of goals, so it's going to be a completely different game going into Wednesday."
 
If the Spirit defeat Grace College on Wednesday, they will advance to the NCCAA semifinals. Kickoff of the win-and-advance matchup is scheduled for 4PM MST.