MIDWAY, Ky. -- Following a 3-1 victory at Fisk (Tenn.) over the weekend, the Midway University men's soccer team returned to the Midway Soccer Field on Tuesday when they hosted Salem (W. Va.) in a non-conference matchup.

Trailing 1-0 at intermission and with little going their way in the opening half, Tim Wolz struck a nerve with his team during his halftime speech as they looked like a different team in the second stanza.

Midway equalized early in the second half in the 49th minute before taking a 2-1 lead just a couple of minutes later in the 51st minute. The Eagles then added an insurance goal in the 74th minute and held on for the 3-1 victory.

With the win, Midway improves to 5-2 on the season as they have now won three games in a row. Salem, meanwhile, drops to 1-7-1 following the loss.

The Tigers peppered the Midway defense in the early going as they had a couple of shots clank off the post before breaking through in the 21st minute. Nicholas Collins scored an unassisted tally as the Tigers grabbed the early 1-0 advantage.

The two defenses took center stage over the final 24 minutes with neither team having many opportunities to score. Salem's goal in the 21st minute was the difference as they took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

After a couple of missed chances in the first half, the Blue and Gold didn't miss in the second half. Unaiz Shajani, a freshman striker from Nairobi, Kenya, stepped up and scored two goals less than two minutes apart.

His first came in the 49th minute when he made a run down the middle of the field. Running down to his right was Chukwuma Soronnadi (London, England) who played a cross to Shajani who found an open net in front of him after the keeper attempted to stop the cross.

Shajani netted his second goal of the game and 13th of the season less than two minutes later in the 51st minute. This time he forced a turnover and scored on a perfectly placed strike from outside the 18-yard box.

After having their next couple of shots stopped, Midway put the game on ice with a goal in the 74th minute. This time it was Shajani who did the assisting as he found Jacob Pollak (Buckner, Ky.) who found an open Thomas Sidebottom (Bardstown, Ky.) who netted his second goal of the season sealing the 3-1 victory.

Making some key saves in the win and picking up his fifth victory of the season was junior netminder Hunter Caudill (Winchester, Ky.). Caudill allowed one goal but made six saves in his 90 minutes in goal.

As a team, Salem held an 18-14 advantage in shots, but Midway held an 8-7 edge in shots on goal in the win.

Midway is now scheduled to return to action on Thursday (Sept. 30) when they battled Brescia (Ky.) in a league matchup at 6:30 p.m. ET in Owensboro.

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