UT Dallas men’s soccer wins American Southwest Conference title

by PegNews wire

UT-Dallas junior forward Kevin White scored 3:16 into the first overtime period to give the Comets the 2007 American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship and send them to the NCAA Division III Tournament after a 2-1 overtime victory over the University of the Ozarks on Sunday afternoon.

White, who was named Tournament Most Valuable Player, slipped one past Ozarks (17-5-0) goalkeeper Brian Sarber in the first overtime to continue post-season play for the Comets (15-3-2). It was White’s 18th goal of the season.

White was able to slip in from the left side of the goal after Bruno Alonso and Mihai Cotet launched an attack on the right side. The ball caromed toward White, who quicly redirected the ball past a diving Sarber.

The victory could be credited as equally to the Comet defense, which withstood over 70 minutes of offensive pressure from Ozarks, which came to life offensively after UTD took an early 1-0 lead off a Rory Rahn goal 21:49 in. Even playing a man down for the final 10 minutes of regulation after Dylan Evans picked up two yellow cards, Ozarks kept constant pressure on Comet goalkeeper Jake Brandon, who made seven saves and withstood numerous other rushes.

Ozarks' Matt Engelman hit a rocket shot from 20 yards out in the 83rd minute that forced UT-Dallas keeper Jake Brandon to make a diving stop. Engleman followed with another quality shot four minutes later that Brandon needed again to save. In the final eight minutes of the second half, the Eagles had four shots, three of which were on goal - but Brandon stopped them all.

UTD got on the board first just 21:49 into the game when Rahn almost assisted on his own shot. Rahn headed an Alonso corner kick toward the net that Sarber failed to wrap up. Rahn was able to follow his shot and then boot the rebound in to give UTD an early 1-0 lead. The Comets held a 1-0 lead until the 73rd minute when Ozarks forward Darren Clark beat Brandon in the open field. It was Clark’s 13th goal of the season and his eighth goal in the last seven matches. Brandon VanCleave received the assist.

Ozarks had had another apparent game-tying goal disallowed midway through the second half when officials ruled a foul upfield before the shot was taken.

Ozarks finished the match with a 13-7 shots advantage, including a 7-4 edge in the second half. Sarber ended the match with five saves.

Source: UTD