SUNDAY'S SCORES
UTRGV 3,
@Lindenwood 1
Western Illinois 1, @Butler 1
@Belmont 3,
Southern Indiana 0
IU Indy 1,
@HCU 0
@UIW 1, Gardner-Webb 1
UTRGV 3, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood men's soccer team (0-1-1) dropped their home opener on Sunday by a final score of 3-1 against the Vaqueros of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (1-0-0). LU had nine shots on goal in the loss.
"That was a disappointing result," said head coach Kris Bertsch. "Our players deserved better. That was a competitive match until the end. There were some calls that didn't go our way unfortunately. I feel for my players as I felt they competed well and fairly."
Josh Francombe had the lone goal for Lindenwood during the 82nd minute on a penalty kick. UTRGV's Cesar Baltazar committed a foul in the box off a throw in by the Lions to set up Lindenwood's first goal of the season.
The first half saw a 0-0 result with Lindenwood posting six shots compared to just three by the Vaqueros. UTRGV's goal keeper Fernando Carreon posted four of his eight saves in the first 45 minutes of play.
After two red cards were called on Lindenwood, UTRGV busted into the scoring column with a header by Jason Robles in the 61st minute. Short-handed, Lindenwood surrendered a second goal in the 68th minute to Jaime Carrillo.
Francombe scored his first goal of the season later in the match to cut the deficit to one, but the Vaqueros' Pablo Torre scored the third and final goal to secure the victory. UTRGV scored three goals on only 10 shots.
Lindenwood had 16 shots in the match including nine on goal compared to just four by UTRGV. LU had chances in the oppositions zone with six corners but failed to convert.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 1, BUTLER 1
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Western Illinois men's soccer traveled to Butler for their second match of the 2024 season on Sunday evening. The match saw the Leathernecks look much more refined than Thursday's opener against Grand Canyon, holding on for a draw while playing the last 19 minutes with just ten men.
The first half had a slow start, with no team having any real chance for the first few minutes. Freshman winger Tyler Philpott had two great slide tackles around the fifth minute, dispossessing Butler defenders. In the eighth, the Leathernecks worked into the final third for the first time in the match, as Oscar Olingdahl sent in a nice pass to Xavier Gagnon who was just offside.
A few minutes later, Tyler Philpott had his first chance of the game, getting onto the opposite side and firing a shot that was saved. Butler had a few good chances to score in the first as well, firing a shot over the bar in the 25th minute and getting a corner in the 27th. The Leathernecks made a double-sub in the 33rd, putting on Diego Porras and Liam Gainey, who both made an instant impact. Porras created a great chance on his first dribble by getting past his defender but found Gainey just a little too late as the linesman's flag went up for an offside call.
Butler had their best scoring opportunity of the first half in the 34th, firing a shot towards Leatherneck keeper Micah Ramirez who made a great save to keep the score level. Western had a few more chances to close the half but went into the break tied nil-nil.
Philpott had another chance very early in the second, but his attempt was saved by Butler's keeper. Things started to get heated early on in the second half as well, rising tension led to three yellows being handed out in the first 13 minutes of the half.
Coming off of a free kick near midfield, the freshman Philpott broke away on the right wing and got in behind his defender, firing a quick pass to Leatherneck forward Liam Gainey who slotted away his opportunity into the right corner of the net to make it one nil.
Gainey's third goal of his Leatherneck career gave Western some comfort for about ten minutes before a handball from Ryan Wrobleski in the box saw him draw his second yellow card and give the Bulldogs a penalty kick. Micah Ramirez stepped up to the challenge, though, making not one, but two incredible saves to deny the Bulldogs an equalizer.
Butler did get their equalizer in the 77th, but the Leathernecks fought tooth and nail with ten men to keep it tied at one until the final whistle. Several Leathernecks made key clearances late in the match, showing a lot of fight down the stretch to seal the draw.
BELMONT 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
NASHVILLE - University of Southern Indiana Men's Soccer could not stop Belmont University in the second half and lost, 3-0, Sunday evening in Nashville, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles, who are in the middle of a five-match road swing to start 2024, is 0-2-0, while Belmont goes to 1-0-1.
The Eagles battled the Bruins to a scoreless draw during the first 45 minutes. Belmont had the upper hand with a 6-1 lead in shots and 2-0 advantage in corner kicks. USI's lone shot that was blocked by the Belmont defense was taken by graduate midfielder Garland Hall (Evansville, Indiana) at 33:01.
Belmont dominated USI in the second half, posting three goals for the margin of victory by outshooting the Eagles, 9-1. The Bruins converted on all three of its shots on goal for the win. The Eagles got only one additional shot in the second half with junior forward Jackson Mitchell (Newburgh, Indiana) shooting wide.
Overall for the match, Belmont outshot USI, 15-2, and had the advantage in corner kicks, 6-1.
IU INDY 1, HCU 0
HOUSTON - Houston Christian University put on a furious rally over the final 20 minutes but it was to no avail as the Huskies were blanked 1-0 by visiting IU-Indianapolis on Sunday night at Sorrels Field.
The Jaguars got what would turn out to be the game-winning goal from Cameron Radeke in the 28th minute. A cross from the right side from Ethan Vermillion found Radeke in the center of the 18-yard box where he nestled a shot into the left corner past Jordan Santa Cruz, giving the visitors the early lead.
That lead would carry into the intermission, but the Huskies came out after the break with the pedal down. The Huskies would outshoot the Jaguars 11-5 and had several good looks during the second frame but could not get one to go home.
IU-Indy keeper Mason Taylor saved three shots within eight minutes, including two consecutive from Kaone Kolagano in the 68th minute. A shot by Jireh Oyebamiji from the left side just outside the box sailed just over the cross bar, and the score remained 1-0 as the two teams headed to the final 20 minutes.
The Huskies would get a penalty attempt in the 81st minute on a handball in the box, but Ricardo Garcia's shot went wide. HCU then earned three straight corners before another smash by Oyebamiji rammed off the right woodwork and back into play.
Kolagano would get one more crack at an equalizer on a cross into the middle of the box in the 87th minute, but his blast to the center of the pipes was saved once again by Taylor, effectively the final chance for the Huskies on this night.
HCU earned seven corners on the evening to just two for IU-Indy, and they would out-shoot the Jags 18-10 overall including 8-5 on goal.
Kolagano had four SOG in 24 minutes of action, while Jireh Oyebamiji had four shots as well. Jordan Santa Cruz had four saves on the evening.
Taylor made eight stops in the pipes for his second straight clean sheet on the Texas two-step for IU-Indy. Cameron Radeke's first goal of the season was enough for the Jaguars on this night after defeating UIW 2-0 on Thursday in San Antonio.
UIW 1, GARDNER-WEBB 1
SAN ANTONIO - Recap coming soon.