BROWNWOOD, Texas- The Howard Payne University men's soccer team (4-8-2, 1-5-1) lost to Hardin-Simmons University (6-7-1, 3-4-1) by a score of 1-2 on Thursday evening at the Citizens National Bank Soccer Field. The Cowboys scored both of their goals in a four minute stretch in the second half before sophomore forward
Andrew Womack connected with sophomore midfielder
Francisco Perez to pull a goal back for the Yellow Jackets.
Overall, in the first half, it was a tightly contested affair. Howard Payne was able to test Hardin-Simmons goalkeeper Joel McPherson early with two shots on goal from freshman forward
Connor Parker and junior midfielder
Tristan Merkh.
Hardin-Simmons then countered with three shots on target of their own, forcing sophomore goalkeeper
Adrian Villa to make some big saves. Twenty eight minutes into the match, men's soccer head coach
Brandon McGibeny made a big call switching out both of the starting wingers in the same substitution window. Senior midfielder
Xzavier Saldana and sophomore midfielder
Andrew Womack made way for junior midfielder
Kolby Lara and sophomore forward
James Ballard.
A few minutes later, the Yellow Jackets midfield got refreshed from sophomore midfielder
Jacob Lopez and freshman midfielder
Doug Corella subbing into the match. After these subs, Howard Payne gained a foothold in the match, and Hardin-Simmons only tested Villa once more in the half on an effort that was saved.
The second half started as well as Howard Payne could have asked. Hardin-Simmons had two shots on target; however only one of these shots resulted in Villa having to make a save, as the other shot was deflected before it became threatening.
In a span of four minutes, the Cowboys were able to undo the hard work that the Yellow Jackets had put up in the match. Howard Payne immediately made a wave of substitutions to work their way back, and they almost brought it back level.
One substitution that made a big impact was Womack. Womack had a ball fall neatly into the feet of Perez in the box in the 85th minute, and McPherson couldn't do anything with except watch the back of the net rattle behind him.
Overall, Howard Payne had 12 total shots and five of them were on target. Villa was called into action on 10 different occasions to make saves.
Up Next: The Howard Payne University men's soccer team will play its last regular season home match, when the Yellow Jackets host the McMurry University RedHawks at the Citizens National Bank Soccer Field on Saturday, October 24, at 7:30 PM.
