The Oglethorpe men's soccer team got off to a big lead early in its game with Brooklyn as part of the BSC Invitational Friday night in Birmingham, Alabama, and never looked back. They tallied four goals in the game's opening half-hour and cruised from there to a 4-1 victory over the Bulldogs to improve to 4-2-1 on the young season.

The scoring got started early for the Stormy Petrels. They took a 1-0 lead over Brooklyn in the 12th minute, as senior midfielder Nick Muntean slotted home a feed from sophomore midfielder Josh Hoeft for his team-leading fifth goal of the season, giving his team the early advantage. The excellent play continued moments later, as freshman defender Jordan Locke tallied his first career goal and freshman midfielder Topher Marshall passed out his second career assist to give Oglethorpe a 2-0 lead. 

The scoring continued in the 31st minute as the Petrels won a penalty kick and senior midfielder Martijn Edelman stepped to the spot and calmly buried his shot in the back of the net for his third goal of the season. Two minutes later, the Petrels had a fourth, as Brooklyn committed another foul in the penalty area and this time freshman midfielder Arturo Hernandez knocked home the penalty kick, giving Oglethorpe a 4-0 lead.

The Petrels outshot the Bulldogs 11-4 in the first half, including a 7-2 tally in shots on goal. They also took seven corner kicks during the period to Brooklyn's four.

With the game already essentially put away, the Petrels held onto their four-goal lead in the second half. Brooklyn was able to edge slightly closer in the game's 88th minute, but it was too late to matter by then, and the Petrels cruised to the 4-1 victory.

For the game, the Petrels outshot their opponent 17-10 with a 10-5 mark in shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Vaughn Moore picked up the victory over 45 minutes of play, stopping three Brooklyn shots in the process. 

The 4-2-1 Petrels will continue their stay in Birmingham on Saturday when they conclude their weekend at the BSC Invitational against Anderson (Indiana) at 6 p.m. Eastern.