Texas Wesleyan men’s soccer loses title in shootout

by PegNews wire

Rams had reached conference title games by defeating Huston-Tillotson in another shootout.

UT-Brownsville 0, TWU 0 (UT-Brownsville wins shootout 3-1)

One day after playing 110 minutes of physical soccer, the Texas Wesleyan University men’s soccer team (9-8-2) did it all over again. This time the second seeded Rams battled top seeded UT-Brownsville (13-4-1) to a scoreless draw through two overtime periods, and the Scorpions took the title 3-1 in a shootout.

The game was remarkably close throughout. Texas Wesleyan saw one of its best scoring opportunities in the 11th minute, when Chase Richeson ripped a shot from the right side that hit the far post and bounced out.

Joakim Soderbaum stopped all seven of UTB’s shots on goal while Juan Gamboa made six stops for the Scorpions.

The Rams played the final 15 minutes with a man advantage after Mike Hudson received his second caution. However UTB denied the Rams and sent the game to a shootout.

Eddie Hernandez scored first for Texas Wesleyan. The Scorpions answered with their first shot and Gamboa stopped the Rams second attempt. The Rams then missed with shots three and four to give the game to the Scorpions 3-1.

“I can’t say enough about the effort from our guys,” commented head coach Josh Gibbs. “After a tough game yesterday, they came out and played extremely well against a good team today.”

By reaching the title match, both teams have advanced to the Region VI tournament, which will be played at home sites November 3-10.

TWU 3, Huston-Tillotson 3 (TWU wins shootout 4-2)

The Texas Wesleyan University men’s soccer team (9-7-2) advanced to Saturday’s Red River Athletic Conference Championship Game with a thrilling win over Huston-Tillotson Univeristy (11-6-2) on Friday. After 110 minutes of game-time, the match was knotted at three. Texas Wesleyan won the ensuing shootout 4-2.

Texas Wesleyan’s goalkeeper, Joakim Soderbaum, had a phenomenal day. While Huston-Tillotson outshot Texas Wesleyan 44-14, Soderbaum came up with 23 saves. He then stopped a pair of shots in the shootout.

While the Rams did not hold the edge in shots, they did maintain control of the game for the first 70 minutes.

Huston-Tillotson scored first when Varney Saidu found the net in the eighth minute. Texas Wesleyan’s Adis Druzanovic answered just 41 seconds later when Seth Mullins found him in front of the net on a free kick. Druzanovic scored again in the 11th minute off a double-assist from Mullins and Leo Cubrilo.

At the start of the second half, Eddie Hernandez put a free kick into the net to give the Rams a 3-1 margin in the 50th minute.

In the 70th minute, Saidu collected a rebound and scored for Huston-Tillotson. Texas Wesleyan went a man down after a red card in the 73rd minute, and played the remaining 37 minutes shorthanded. H-TU tied the game in the 86th minute when Frank Toscano scored off another rebound.

That set things up for the shootout. H-TU made a goalkeeper change, putting a fresh Gabe Gibbons between the pipes. Eddie Hernandez scored the first for the Rams. Soderbaum then blocked H-TU’s first attempt.

Brad Egan and Seth Mullins scored the next two for Texas Wesleyan. Gibbons then came up with a save on shot number four for the Rams.

Soderbaum saved the next shot and Druzanovic knocked in the final shot to lift Texas Wesleyan to the win.

Head coach Josh Gibbs commented on a tremendous game. “I thought we had them in regulation, but we let them back in,” Gibbs said. “I’m glad we had practiced penalties. Our guys were able to make them and Sven [Soderbaum] was terrific. After they tied it, it was gut check time for everybody. I’m very proud of this team, and its great for them to be back in the final.”

Source: TWU