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It was a case of "early does it" for the Muhlenberg men's soccer team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Starting at the rare time of 11 in the morning, the Mules had enough goals by 11:30 to breeze into the second round with a 4-0 win against Baruch.

The Mules (15-1-2), who won their eighth in a row, will play Catholic, a 2-0 winner against Coast Guard, tomorrow at 1:00, with the winner advancing to the "Sweet 16."

Muhlenberg jumped on the board quickly, scoring its first goal just 3:31 into the game. Senior Oliver Katz gained possession on the left side and passed into the middle near the top of the box. Sophomore Nick Sarkos tapped the ball to senior Travis Wantchekon, who had an open shot at the goalie and beat him to the left post (above).

The Mules put the game away with three goals in a span of 5:50. At the 12:58 mark, senior Joe Adams played a long ball on the right side to sophomore Phil Rahling, who dribbled to the box and sent in a dangerous cross. A Baruch defender deflected the pass out of the goal area, but right to senior Lance Dotzman, who finished to the near post.

Muhlenberg scored off a corner kick in the 18th minute when the ball has headed out to Adams, who blasted a volley into the upper left-corner.

Dotzman concluded the scoring flurry at 18:48 by converting a penalty kick (pictured left) after Wantchekon was taken down in the box.

The Mules, who had won each of their last six games by one goal, substituted freely with the big lead to let their starters rest up for the second-round game. A total of 23 players saw action for Muhlenberg, and the reserves maintained the big lead.

The closest the Mules came to another goal was when sophomore Andrew Bell (pictured right) dinged a shot off the post in the 80th minute.

The four goals were the most for Muhlenberg in an NCAA Tournament game since a 4-0 win against Ithaca in a 1995 quarterfinal.

In the second game, Catholic broke a scoreless tie 2:21 into the second half and added an insurance goal later on en route to its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.