St. Paul, Minn. – The Macalester College men's soccer team started its 2022 season today hosting the Rams of North Central University (MN). The Scots commanded the field, tallying a 6-0 victory. Macalester starts the season off 1-0.
 
Macalester put pressure on the Rams early. In doing so, junior Branko Sciortino (Los Altos, Calif./Bellermine College Prep) was able to put the Scots up one in the eighth minute. Sciortino was assisted by fellow junior Zade Alafranji (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento Waldorf School/Davis Legacy) and senior Thomas Dono (Plymouth, Mich./Salem). In the 20^th minute, Sciortino would drive through the Rams' defense in a solo effort and double the Scots' lead. Sophomore goalkeeper Sam Price (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) had a save a little later in the half to keep a clean sheet, 2-0, going into the second half.
 
It seemed like Macalester could not be stopped in the second half. Just four minutes after the break, Alafranji netted his first collegiate goal, assisted by Dono and senior Milosz Fernandez-Kepka (Las Vegas, Nev./Indiana University HS).  Macalester's strong forward Hans Haenicke (Lisle, Ill./ Benet Academy) also got on the score sheet, giving the Scots a 4-0 lead in the 65^th minute. Fellow sophomore Ian Staresinic (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) registered the assist.
 
The Scots weren't done and had two more players earn their first collegiate goals tonight. In the 75^th minute, sophomore Grant Luce (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) put one in off a pass from first year Parker Etzbach (Danbury, Conn./Wooster School). Luce would also tally an assist on the sixth goal, along with first year Tanguy Lesegretain (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills), as fellow first year Alex Beck-Ruiz (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) tallied the final goal for Macalester in the 82^nd minute.
 
Macalester flies out to the west coast for its next competition. The Scots will play the University of California – Santa Cruz on Saturday September 3^rd  in Santa Cruz, Calif.