With sights still on first place in the OUA West Division, the McMaster men's soccer team beat the Brock Badgers 4-0 on a cold, wet Saturday afternoon at Ron Joyce Stadium. With the win, the Marauders clinch no worse than the second seed in the OUA West playoffs.

Currently ranked 5th in the national top-ten, McMaster got off the mark early against the Badgers as Paterson Farrell drove a volley into the left corner of the Brock net in the 11th minute, for his fourth goal of the season.

The Marauders continued to apply pressure and it paid off in the 37th minute when Maroon midfielder Gersi Xhuti made a pretty run and finished with a left-footed strike that the Brock keeper got a piece of but could not stop. The goal was his seventh of the year, and McMaster had a 2-0 lead at the intermission.

A dubious start to the second half saw McMaster reduced to 10 men, when Xhuti was sent off with a red card less than five minutes in. The Marauders' leading scorer, Xhuti will now have to sit out the final conference game at Laurier on Sunday.

Despite playing a man short, McMaster kept attacking and had an apparent goal in the 59th minute wiped out by the linesman's flag as offside. But in the 66th minute, Ryan Garnett lined up a corner from the left side and curled it directly into the Badger net for his second goal of the year.



Finally in the 88th minute Brock's defense misplayed a long clearing attempt and the Marauders broke away two on none with Nate Morris finishing against the helpless keeper to make the final margin 4-0. The goal was Morris' sixth of the year.

McMaster plays its final conference game on Sunday October 20 at Laurier, and along with beating the Golden Hawks, needs some help to catch York for first place in the OUA West.

McMaster will host an OUA Division semi-final on October 27. Check Marauders.ca for information on game times and opponent as it becomes available.