As a result of Sunday’s big win, the Knights have matched the 1997 and 2001 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ squads for the best start in school history at the Division I level.

The Knights, who outshot Mercer (1-3-1) 17-8 during the match, led 2-0 at halftime after a pair of goals from sophomore McKauly Tulloch (Kingston, Jamaica). The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ advantage grew to 4-0 nine minutes into the second half after junior Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) and senior Cameron Cooksey (Marietta, Ga.) both scored within a minute.

“I was really happy with our player’s attitude,” Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “We were playing on the road and our approach was very professional. We were ready to go at the opening whistle, and never looked back.”

Tulloch, who scored on a quick turnaround shot from 20 yards out 15 minutes into the match and then beat Mercer goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh on a breakaway setup by Robson with 40:54 on the clock, recorded six shots and also assisted on Cooksey’s goal. The Knights were aggressive from the start as Tulloch had a pair of shots on goal the first five minutes of the match. Later, his two goals brought his total on the year to eight in only five matches.

Robson opened the scoring in the second half by getting past Ranjitsingh on a penalty kick at the 48:43 mark. Less than one minute later, Tulloch took a shot and Cooksey scored off the rebound.

Three minutes after the Bears got on the board with a Ehjayson Henry goal, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ junior Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored from inside the box, assisted by Cooksey and senior Kevan George (Decatur, Ga.).

Nineteen Knights saw action against the Bears.

“We were good going forward today. A lot of players got involved,” Cunningham said. “It was good to see us finish our chances. We were able to get every player minutes today. That will help us in the long run.”

Junior Shawn Doyle (Fort Myers, Fla.) logged just over 71 minutes in the winning effort and posted one save before sophomore Will Hectico (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) entered the contest.

The No. 22 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ men’s soccer team (9-2-2) scored three first-half goals to defeat Virginia Tech (4-9-1) Tuesday afternoon at Thompson Field, 4-2. The Knights and Hokies played an intense first 20 minutes as the teams combined to score three goals in that time. Sophomore Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) scored the eventual game-winner when he found the back of the net in the 40th minute to lift the Knights to the nonconference win.

“Give the team a lot of credit as it has been a tough week of travel for us,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “Virginia Tech was a very resilient team, but we were able to put four goals in today that helped us to get the win.”

Junior Warren Creavalle (Acworth, Ga.) put Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ up 1-0 in just the eighth minute of the game. Sophomore Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) picked up an assist on the opening tally as he fed Creavalle for the open look inside the box. The goal was Creavalle’s third in the last four contests.

Former Hokie Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) gave his current team a 2-0 lead with his third goal of the season just over five minutes later. Yamashita, who transferred to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ from Virginia Tech following the 2008 season, put a shot inside the far post from the left side of the 18-yard box. Junior captain Kevan George (Roxborough, Trinidad) picked up his second assist of the season on the marker.

“I could tell this was going to be a special day for Luiz, you could see it in his eyes this morning,” Cunningham said. “I told my assistant coaches that I thought he was going to score a goal today and he came through. Luiz created some good chances for his teammates as well and was just very effective throughout the entire game.”

Virginia Tech answered back with its first goal in the 19th minute to cut the lead in half. Evan Slusser headed in his first tally of the year on Clarke Bentley’s corner kick to make it 2-1 in the early going.

Jimenez scored the final tally of the opening period to give his team a little breathing room headed into the half. The second-year midfielder put a shot from the top of the box that beat James Daly in goal for the Hokies to give the Knights a 3-1 lead at the break. The goal was the second of the season and Jimenez’s career.

The scoring didn’t stop in the second half; it just took a little bit longer for either team to find the back of the net like they had early in the first.

Sophomore forward A.J. Nelson (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) scored his third of the season in the 68th minute to give his team the three-goal cushion, 4-1. Freshman Steven Lamberta (Temecula, Fla.) picked up his first-career point, assisting on the goal.

A Jed Prater tally in the 72nd minute cut the lead to 4-2, but that was as close as the Hokies would get as Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ held on for the two-goal victory.

Sophomore Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) stopped three shots en route to earning his ninth win of the season. The nine victories are the most by any goalkeeper at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ since the program joined Conference USA in 2005.

The Hokies held a substantial advantage in corner kicks in the contest. Virginia Tech was awarded the corner 11 times in the game, while Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ managed just three opportunities.

The Knights wrapped up their three-game road swing with the win and will return home for their next three contests. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will host Stetson next on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Soccer Complex. The matchup with the Hatters marks the beginning of a three-game homestand for the Knights who will finish the regular season at Tulsa on Nov. 5 before the conference tournament the following week.

FIU drops to 0-2 in C-USA games and are now 4-5 overall.

“Forget about being the favorite, every conference game is tough,” head coach Bryan Cunningham said. “Our focus was on tonight. We kept telling ourselves that this was the biggest game of the year and when we look back at the end of the season we know that this game validated what we did against SMU.”

Sophomore Eduardo Jimenez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) scored the game’s opening goal and the first of his career on a centering pass from Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) in the 44th minute. Robson’s corner kick was returned to the second-year forward, who beat two FIU defenders on the left sideline and centered the ball into the penalty box. After the pass ricocheted off two Golden Panthers, Jimenez pounced on the loose ball and fired a shot to the far corner for the 1-0 lead headed into half.

“All week we said this was going to be a hard game to win,” Jimenez said. “Coach stressed that this game was going to be pivotal to our success the rest of the season. He told me I was going to get my goal tonight and it was an incredible feeling to get it that way.

“It was a momentum shift for us to get the first one. They were coming at us right before half, but we pushed the ball up and I got a chance and it meant a lot to me to score that goal, but I know that it meant a lot for my teammates too,” Jimenez added.

After 23 minutes of midfield play to start the second half, Luiz Yamashita (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored his first goal as a member of the Knights in the 69th minute. Kevan George’s (Roxborough, Trinidad) long high pass that started just outside the top of his own penalty box landed 20 yards past midfield for the sprinting Yamashita.

The redshirt sophomore, running in an all-out sprint, got behind an FIU defender and corralled the ball. Two strides and Yamashita’s low shot rolled past a challenging Lopez and into the far back corner of the goal for the two-goal advantage.

“The coaches and my teammates have been giving me a lot of confidence,” Yamashita said. “I knew my first goal was coming and I am glad that it came tonight in this game.”

The Golden Panthers’ Sebastian Frings nearly cut the lead in half with a long freekick from 30 yards out in 78th minute. Frings’ kick made its way over the wall, but a diving Shawn Doyle in goal for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ turned aside the attempt. A rebound attempt from Florian Schwertl seemed destined for an open net, but a scrambling Doyle rushed the shot as it sailed over the crossbar.

Doyle now has four shutouts this season after stopping all three FIU shots that found their way on goal Tuesday.

“Eduardo has had plenty of chances this fall to put the ball in the back of the net,” Cunningham said. “He has been a bit unlucky so it was great to see him score a goal tonight. At the same time Luiz has been fantastic all year. He has put himself in positions and he was finally able to get on the board tonight. I hope now that since both have broken through that it will come a little easier for them to score with the pressure off.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 9 when it hosts Memphis. The Tigers and the Knights will kick off from the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Soccer Complex at 7 p.m.