CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. – Fynn Mewes made his Roosevelt debut a memorable one by scoring his first goal with 15 minutes left to lift the Lakers to a 1-0 non-conference win over Thomas More on Thursday in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

The winning play began with the Saints restarting the game with a free kick after Roosevelt (1-0-0) was whistled for offsides. The free kick was contested in the midfield, but as Thomas More tried to play a pass back to its defense, Roosevelt pounced. The misguided pass landed directly at Krystian Niziolek's feet and the freshman wasted no time wheeling around and finding Mewes.

The perfectly-threaded through ball hit Mewes in stride during his sprint and he left no doubt about the finish. The graduate student from Germany took one touch to set him up to blast the ball into the upper right corner to break the goalless deadlock between the two teams.

Thomas More nearly had an immediate response with a dangerous corner kick less than three minutes after Mewes' tally. The ball was placed perfectly into the box for the Saints, but the attempt on goal was saved at the last second by Rafael Rios using his head to clear the ball before it crossed the line.

Rios persevered yet another clean sheet for Eric Carvajal, who made four saves for his 14^th career shutout. The senior now is in second place alone in program history just two off the mark set by Mario Graciano, Carvajal's immediate predecessor from 2018-2022. Carvajal made two stops in each half as the Lakers were outshot 9-8 in the match.

Roosevelt had some chances to strike in the first half after winning six corner kicks, but just two of the Lakers' five attempts in the opening 45 minutes reached the goal. Caco Fernandez had Roosevelt's only other shot on goal in the second half, a long-range attempt that the Saints keeper didn't see until the last few moments.

OPENING MAGIC: With the win, the Lakers stayed perfect in four season openers under head coach Paddy Hoepp. Roosevelt now has two wins and two draws in the first game of the season with Hoepp in charge. This streak comes after Roosevelt lost its previous four openers before Hoepp took over in 2022.

UP NEXT: The Lakers' road trip continues Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with a matchup against Ohio Dominican in Columbus, Ohio. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.