From University of Chicago Athletics

Two early goals in succession gave the University of Chicago men's soccer team all the offense it would need in a 3-0 shutout win over No. 9-ranked Thomas More College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday.

The Maroons (12-5-2 record) advance to the second round where they will play host Kenyon College (18-1 record) at 1:00 PM (ET). The Saints ended their season at 16-3-1.

The first two chances of the day both struck pay dirt for the Maroons. Junior midfielder Chris Mathis headed in a loose ball only 4:32 into the match. Just two-and-a-half minutes later, freshman forward Matthew Koh received a through ball on the right side, dribbled in and scored to make it 2-0.

In the 39th minute, a Thomas More player was ejected from the game via red card. The Saints were forced to play the rest of the contest down to 10 men on the pitch. UChicago took advantage and fired off 12 more shots in the second half. One attempt from junior forward Brenton Desai hit the post at the 52:53 mark.

UChicago's final tally came off a Thomas More own goal in the 79th minute as the team went on to win 3-0. Now in their seventh NCAA Tournament, the Maroons have advanced to the second round for the fourth time.

In between the pipes, sophomore goalkeeper Hill Bonin (11-5-2 record) made two saves. It was his fifth shutout of the season and first career clean sheet in the postseason. UChicago is now 9-0 when scoring multiple goals this year.

The final statistics showed UChicago with a 17-5 lead in shots while Thomas More took the corner kick category 3-1.