Pride men's soccer's early scores lead to 3-1 win over Graceland

LAMONI, Iowa - The Clarke University men's soccer team got their Heart of America Athletic Conference season started on the right foot as they earned a 3-1 road victory over Graceland University on Tuesday night.

The returning foot of Luke Persenico got things started with a bang as the freshman coming off of a red card suspension got the scoring going with a second minute goal as the Pride jumped out 1-0 early.

That lead would hold through halftime as it was another early goal, this time in the second half, that put CU up 2-0 behind Javier Carranza's first goal of the season in the 49th minute, less than four minutes into the half. The final goal of the game for Clarke was netted by Dimetri Rede as he scored in the 63rd minute to give the Pride a pretty hefty 3-0 lead.

Graceland attempted to start a late comeback as Moise Ndatabaye got the lone Yellowjacket tally on the board in the 72nd minute to make it a two-goal game again but that was all they would get.

Pride goalkeeper Jan Paule played the first 58 minutes but had to leave due to injury as Fernando Contreras subbed in off the bench and was only faced with three shots on goal as he made two saves but the offense cushioned the keeper with the three goal advantage.

Clarke men's soccer will return home this Saturday to host Park University for a 4:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Burrows Field after the completion of the women's soccer game against the Pirates.