Dominic McKeown scored a pair of goals and had a hand – a foot, rather – in two more as the Bulldogs throttled visiting Kirksville 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Although coach Bill Gleeson’s squad struggled to win the ball in midfield much of the evening, allowing the Tigers to close the gap twice. they managed enough moments of brilliance to dominate the visitors. Mexico punched in two early goals then carved out a commanding 5-2 lead with 10 minutes to go in the contest. An own goal that bounded off defender Brayden Dunn in the waning moments tightened up the final score.

“It was definitely a back and forth game,” McKeown said. “We got opportunities at the right time and we took advantage of them.”

The first of these opportunities came within eight minutes of the opening whistle. A long throw in from Haden Frazier found McKeown in the box and he didn’t hesitate, drilling it into left side of the net. A few moments later McKeown located Jordan Mitchell on a free kick.

“I took a touch and just bombed it,” Mitchell explained.

The ball found the back of the net and the Bulldogs claimed at 2-0 advantage that held until 5:21 remaining in the first half, when Kirksville’s Michael Vorkink slipped through the Mexico back line and angled one in, making the score 2-1. Until then, home side goalkeeper Brock Smythe had not seen much action. He survived an anxious moment just before the whistle. Smythe blocked a shot by the Tigers Bryce Ensign, but got tangled up with the striker. The ball ricocheted to Kirksville midfielder Sam Wilson, who had drifted inside the six yard box. Facing an open net, he sliced it well wide.

Mexico survived the scare and went into the half clinging to that 2-1 lead.

The visitors would score again in the early minutes of the second half, but not before the Bulldogs added to their tally on the game’s most unusual play.

From midfield, McKeown sought out Mitchell, who was scything through a crowd of Tigers at the edge of the 18 yard box. The long pass found Mexico’s striker – almost. Mitchell muscled past a pair of defenders, which caught the attention of Kirksville’s goalkeeper and the rest of the back line. Meanwhile the ball continued rolling, right into the net.

“I think I got credit for that one,” McKeown observed.

With the game still in doubt at 3-2, the Bulldogs again lost control of the midfield, failing on multiple occasions to link passes together and conceding the possession advantage to Kirksville.

“We started off sluggish in the middle,” admitted midfield Daeye Miller.

With 16:56 remaining in the game, however, Miller collected a rebound and lashed it left footed into the back of the net, stretching the lead to 4-2. The Bulldogs added an insurance goal with just over 10 minutes to go, when McKeown dribbled into the six yard box. He held his ground until Tiger defenders closed in and then issued a cross to Frazier, who finished cleanly.

For the Bulldogs it was the second win over the last seven games. Although frustrated at times, coach Gleeson noted that the squad settled in and played their style of soccer. There were some solid defensive plays by Dunn, Hunter Woolfolk, Logan Carter, Randy Hernandez and others. Smythe made a couple of big saves and Alex Guzman showed some clever moments in midfield. Gleeson also highlighted the strong finish.

“When we play at home we have a lot more energy,” he said. “I’m not complaining.”

The Bulldogs went into Thursday night’s contest at home against Hannibal with a 7-10-1 record, with two of those wins coming against Kirksville. Mexico hosts Chillicothe today at noon.