BUENA VISTA, Va. -  In hopes of a return to the win column, a swarming attack and stingy defense led the Southern Virginia University men's soccer team to an impressive win over Regent University, 5-0.

The Knights held good news before kickoff with the return of their leading scorer of the past two seasons, Benjamin Simister, to the starting lineup. He missed the first six games of the season before returning in a victory over Johnson & Wales last week.

It didn't take too long for the game's opening goal. After a Regent throw in was cleared by Zach Bartholomew, Tate Hickman chased the ball down, made several nice dribbles before poking it by the keeper to pot his 6th goal of the season.

Hickman would find the score sheet again after being awarded a penalty in the latter stages of the first half. Once again, he made no mistake to provide Southern Virginia a two goal cushion heading into the locker room.

In the opening minutes of the second, Kenyon Grange patiently waited for a pass from Benjamin Simister to find its way across the box. Grange rifled a shot past the sliding keeper to record his first goal of the season.

The Knights added two more goals to their total with Austin Lyman tacking on another goal off a penalty in the 77th minute, while Hickman made program history after completing a late hat trick. With three goals in a game, he tied the single-game program record to join a select group of players spanning over 20 years.

Looking Ahead

It's the second consecutive win at Knight Stadium for Southern Virginia, whose schedule will ramp up this weekend with their first USA South matchup of the season.

The team will visit Brevard, league champions from two seasons ago, for a 4:00 PM kickoff on Saturday, September 27th. 

For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightmsoccer on Instagram.