JACKSON, Miss. — It has been 26 years since East Texas Baptist University has started a season 4-0 and on Saturday in Mississippi the Tigers tied that feat with a 3-1 victory over Belhaven University in the Belhaven Bowl Stadium. ETBU took 16 shots from nine different players with six on goal and then the defense withstood five Belhaven attacks from 69:50 to 77:14 in the second half without conceding for the win.
Andrew Bradford scored and led ETBU with four shots, including two on goal.
James Mastrangelo added an unassisted goal on two shots and
Jacob Wenzel scored on his only shot. Taking two shots each were Jacob Whittingham,
Dylan Garcia,
James Mastrangelo, and
Joshua Daley.
Ryan Lord played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with three saves.
ETBU turned a scoreless start into a 2-0 halftime lead, getting goals from Bradford and Wenzel after Lord and the defense absorbed a Belhaven push. The Tigers started the match earning a corner in the opening minute and had shots from Garcia and
Preston McLean. Belhaven generated five shots from 16:49 to 24:13, with Lord saving the first one and ETBU also defending a corner at 24:24. The Tigers answered with consecutive attempts by Whittington and a corner at 29:03, then Bradford opened the scoring at 32:07 off
Brenden Davidson's assist and added another shot less than three minutes later. Wenzel extended the lead to 2-0 at 41:49 from
Matthew Aguilar's assist, and Mastrangelo followed with another ETBU shot before halftime.
Mastrangelo answered Belhaven's 64th-minute goal with a score at 65:17 in the second half, putting ETBU ahead 3-1 after Belhaven made it 2-1 in the 64
th minute. Lord helped protect the advantage early in the half with a save on Belhaven shot in the 60th minute, and Garcia forced a save from Justin Ramirez less than a minute later. ETBU then absorbed another Belhaven push from the 70th through 77th minutes, with Lord saving another Blazers shot again before a Belhaven corner at 77:14. The closing stretch featured a late Tigers attack, as Bradford and Daley combined for four shots from 85:37 to 88:34, including two saves by Belhaven as ETBU closed out the 3-1 win.
After ETBU's win,
Andrew Bradford described his comfort on the left side, saying, "It was awesome. I just felt a lot of freedom." On the scoring sequence, he added, "Out there on the left wing and for the first goal, Brendan played a good cross and all I could do is just score."
ETBU travels to Memphis, Tenn., to face Rhodes College on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. at Rhodes Soccer Field.
Game Notes:
- Best start in program history since 2000 when they were 4-0.
- Third straight match to score three goals
- ETBU was 3-0 in 2024 but fell to Belhaven, 1-0, in 2024
HALF BREAKDOWN
First Half
- ETBU scored twice on eight shots, with Bradford finishing a Davidson assist at 32:07 and Wenzel scoring from Aguilar at 41:49.
- The Tigers held an 8-5 shot advantage and earned three corner kicks to Belhaven's two.
- Lord made one save as ETBU kept Belhaven off the board, including a stretch from 16:49 to 24:24 when Belhaven generated five shots and a corner.
Second Half
- Mastrangelo scored in the 66th minute, giving ETBU a 3-1 lead that held as the final score.
- The Tigers were outshot 9-8 in the half but put four attempts on goal to Belhaven's three.
- Lord made two second-half saves, including stops in the 60th and 77th minutes.
- ETBU generated four shots after the 85th minute, with Bradford and Daley each putting one on frame.
ETBU Top Performers
Jacob Wenzel
- one goal
- game-winning goal
- one shot on goal
Andrew Bradford
- one goal
- four shots
- two shots on goal
James Mastrangelo
- one goal
- two shots
- one shot on goal
Matthew Aguilar
- one assist
- one point
Brenden Davidson
- one assist
- one point
