ABILENE, Texas- The Howard Payne University men's soccer team (3-4-2, 1-1-1) has beaten McMurry University (1-8, 0-2) by a score of 3-2 at the Wilford Moore Stadium Thursday evening.
The Yellow Jackets kept up the intensity the team as shown in recent weeks right off the bat, as sophomore forward
Andrew Womack smashed home the opening goal into the side setting in the fourth minute of the match. Afterwards, Howard Payne continued to test the War Hawks goalkeeper. Sophomore midfielder
Francisco Perez fired a shot with his weak foot that forced Enrique Cabello to make a save. The testing proved to work, as sophomore defender
Nate Smith was able to score the Yellow Jackets second goal of the game off a corner from freshman defender and midfielder
Jasper Knight in the 37
th minute of the match.
At halftime, HPU four shots, with all four being on goal, and sophomore goalkeeper
Adrian Villa made eight saves.
In the beginning of the second half, the momentum swung in McMurry's direction. The War Hawks tested Villa with three shots within the opening five minutes of the match, forcing Villa to make one save. McMurry found their first goal in the 55
th minute on a cross from the right wing that was headed home by Ibrahim Arsany. McMurry made the game level with the equalizing goal just two minutes later.
The War Hawks caught the Yellow Jackets out of position and hit them with a counter. As a result, Villa came to the edge of his box to try to claim the ball. He ended missing the ball and that allowed Justyn Judie to capitalize on the mistake.
HPU didn't let their heads drop and still continued to mount pressure. The Yellow Jackets were able to get three shots off, two from freshman defender
Kyler Horton, and a half chance in the 81
st minute from Knight that resulted in a corner.
Howard Payne regained the lead right near the end of the game when junior forward
Kolby Lara found freshman forward
Connor Parker to score the go-ahead goal in the 87
th minute to put the Yellow Jackets up 3-2. In the end, HPU had 10 shots and seven on target. Villa made eight saves.
"McMurry has been a tough opponent for the past number of years, and they proved that again tonight," head coach
Brandon McGibeny said. "Our energy out of half time didn't match theirs and a big credit to them for clawing back into the match. Our men did a good job of staying locked into the match until the very end, and I'm just proud of our ability to find a way to win."
Up Next: The Howard Payne men's soccer team continues ASC Conference game with a road matchup against Hardin-Simmons University at the HSU Soccer Complex on Saturday, October 3 at 7:30 PM.
