OWENSBORO, Ky. – Senior captain Lukas Grosse-Puppendahl score a 32-minute hat trick to lead the Senators to a 3-0 win over Kentucky Wesleyan and to the top of the G-MAC standings.
 
The Senators (3-1-2, 3-0-1 G-MAC) and Panthers (1-6-0, 1-3-0 G-MAC) played a scoreless first half Thursday night, but the Senators finally broke through in the 57th minute when the Senators won a penalty kick.
 
Grosse-Puppendahl stepped up for D&E and slotted home the penalty kick to give the Senators the lead over the hosts.
 
Less than a minute later, the captain doubled his tally on the night, using his head to put the league leaders up 2-0. Abel Ameyaw sent in a near perfect cross that Grosse-Puppendahl headed home.
 
The Senators controlled the contest for the majority of the time remaining. In the 81st minute, the Senators were awarded a second penalty and the captain stepped up to complete his hat trick in a total time of 31:59 on the clock.
 
Hedi Mehnaoui had a quiet night in the first half, only seeing one effort sent wide by the hosts. However, the keeper came up big in the second half with three critical saves in just over two minutes to keep the Panthers off the score sheet.
 
The clean sheet is Mehnaoui's second in his last three games.

With the win, the Senators (10 pts) move above Ohio Valley (3-1-0, 9 pts) in the G-MAC Statndings.
 
The Senators will return to action on Saturday with a trip south to the Music City to face Trevecca Nazarene. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. in Nashville.