Photo by: Roxie Gonzalez
The Oklahoma Christian University men’s soccer team looked to rebound against Ouachita Baptist University and Colorado School of Mines over the weekend after its loss against archrival Southern Nazarene University.
Going against a 15 mph north wind on Sept. 12, the Eagles were able to hold off the Ouachita Baptist Tigers to keep the game scoreless in the first half. Backed by the wind in the second half, the Eagles scored three goals in a 10-minute span to give them their first win of the season.
“The first half we didn’t find the energy that we needed,” sophomore midfielder Ante Susic said. “But at halftime coach talked to us, and we found what we needed. We just tried harder in everything in the second half.”
Susic found the back of the net in the 52nd minute to put the Eagles ahead 1-0. Susic rebounded the ball off a save by Ouachita Baptist goalkeeper David Henley, and then beat Henley unassisted.
“We really got them on their heels,” senior defender and team captain, Matt McLain said. “We had a lot of the possession. We were swinging the ball around making [Ouachita Baptist] shift a lot and starting to wear them down to where they got tired.”
The next two goals came in the 61st minute. Forward Brandon Little Axe passed the ball to Cody McLemore, who blasted a 35-yard shot past Henley to put the Eagles up 2-0. The third goal came 23 seconds later when McLemore assisted Susic to give Susic his second goal of the game.
“It was just a big win for us,” freshman defender Clayton Collier said. “Coming off a loss the week before, we really needed to step it up and get back on track for the season.”
The Eagles outshot the Tigers 20-15. Oklahoma Christian goalkeeper Evan Helker recorded his first career shutout along with six saves.
On the other side of the ball, Ouachita Baptist goalkeeper David Henley had four saves. In the 77th minute the Tigers’ Kaleb Banning received two yellow cards, resulting in a red card and ejection.
On Sept. 14, the Eagles met Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers had just come off a win against NCAA Division II No. 7 Northeastern State University. Looking to continue their success after a win on Friday, the Eagles fell to the Orediggers 4-0.
“We knew going into the game that it was going to be a tough game for us,” McLain said. “Colorado School of Mines is one of the top teams in the nation every year.”
The Orediggers gained an early lead in the 18th minute off a free kick headed in by the Orediggers’ Richard Garvey. Colorado School of Mines went into the second half with a 1-0 lead.
“We didn’t focus on the game from the beginning,” Susic said. “And we were a little exhausted from the game before.”
McLain agreed that the team didn’t have their heads entirely in the game.
“Their first goal came off just kind of a mental lapse.” McLain said. “We checked out for a little bit. They played a nice ball. They finished it.”
The second half proved to be fatal for the Eagles, as the Orediggers scored again in the 53rd minute off of a throw-in by Jackson Shellady, headed in by Ryan Leach. The Orediggers’ next two goals came 75 seconds apart in the 74th minute. Nikolaus Grotz assisted Garvey on an eight-yard shot, and Garvey assisted Allan Foster III on the Orediggers final goal.
“The first half was 1-0 and we were still in the game.” McLain said. “But we never were able to get a handle on the ball. We never had much possession and so we started to get tired. They wore us down a little bit, and as a result we made a few more mental mistakes and didn’t take care of things on the defensive side and in the midfield that we should have and they punished us for it.”
Colorado Mines outshot the Eagles 19-8. Helker finished with one save while Colorado School of Mines’ Collin Hall recorded two stops.
“They’re a good team so you’ve got to give them credit,” Collier said. “We’re getting ready to bounce back. We’ve just got to do it in practice and continue to get better and grow as a team.”
The Eagles will host Harding University on Sept. 20 at 3 p.m.
0
0
Be First to Comment