men’s soccer – Page 2

Men’s soccer loses to Huston-Tillotson

The men’s soccer team fell to Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) 3-2. The Saints move to 2-10-3 overall and 2-6-2 in the Red River Athletic Conference, while the Rams improve to 8-5 overall and 6-4 in conference.

Prior to the game, the university honored seniors Connor Bagley, Joseph Baker, Miguel Barrera, Randy Dominguez, Christopher Marcus, Kevin Rios and Christopher Zepeda.

History
The Saints are 8-9-2 against HTU. OLLU tied HTU 2-2 last year.

Basics
The Rams scored just six minutes into the first half on a shot from Pablo Gonzalez. He was assisted by Justin Reyes and Brian Medina. Two minutes later, the Rams added another goal on a shot from Mac Justin Reyes, assisted by Nicholas Viader-Cresp. Both teams continued to have chances to score. OLLU’s Michael Huff was able to find the net with just five minutes remaining in the period.

HTU scored its third goal at the 56th minute on another shot from Reyes. The Saints added a goal with less than a minute remaining in the game on a shot from Diego Rodriguez off a rebound. The game ended with HTU winning 3-2.

Inside the box
Kevin Rios led the Saints with three shots. Reyes and Albright Suh led the Rams with three shots each.

Overall, the Saints totaled 15 shots, five on goal. HTU took 10 shots, four on goal.

OLLU had two corners kicks, while the Rams had one.

HTU’s Brian Medina, Pablo Gonzalez, Albright Suh, Nicholas Viader-Cresp, Luis Uriostegui, Angelo Williams and Armando Garcia were each show a yellow card. OLLU’s Karson Webb and Kevin Rios received a yellow card.

What’s next
The Saints will play their final game of the regular season on Oct. 29 at Texas A&M University-San Antonio at 3:30 p.m.

Men’s soccer exults after win over Jarvis

The men’s soccer team battled Jarvis Christian University and came up victorious with a 4-3 win in a Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) matchup on Saturday. The Saints move to 2-8-3 and 2-4-2 in conference, while the Bulldogs move to 4-6-2 overall and 1-5-1 in conference.

The Saints are three and a half games behind league-leader LSU-Shreveport and in ninth place. Jarvis is in 11th place in the conference.

History
The Saints are 9-0 against the Bulldogs.

Basics
The Saints spent equal time on both sides of the field for most of the match. OLLU took the first shot on goal at the six-minute mark, and Jarvis followed with back-to-back shots. On the other side of the field, Cade Ryan, Stephen Volpe and Javier Pena took their chances with shots, but came up short. Jarvis followed with three shots of their own that were not successful. OLLU’s Matthew Banda came close, but his shot was saved. Michael Huff took a shot, and Jarvis followed with two more opportunities. After a foul on OLLU, a card was called on JCU’s Gerardo Martinez for rough play. A kick from Benjamin Rios was blocked by a defender, but soon after, Kevin Rios found the net on a second-chance kick in.

The teams kept taking turns on their side of the field through the 40th minute when OLLU’s Cristian Govea Mireles was able to get the ball in to score on an assist from Banda that was deflected by a defender.

With the Saints up 2-0, Jarvis took just three minutes to score a goal. Ten minutes later, Johan Arevalo scored the equalizer for Jarvis.

Three fouls in a row were called on Jarvis, and Pena was able to get the chance on a penalty kick, which went in giving the Saints the 3-2 lead. A few minutes later at the 70th minute, Michael Huff scored on an assist from Mireles to put the Saints ahead at 4-2.

As the Saints took the 4-2 lead, emotions got heated and red cards were given to each team. Jarvis’ Ignacio Gutierrez and Diego Anzaldua were ejected, along with OLLU’s Tomas Olivarez and Abraham Lincon. In addition, OLLU keeper Carlos Hernandez and JCU’s Juan Iracheta received a yellow card.

As the officials attempted to keep control of the game, the teams continued to compete through the last 20 minutes. At the 88th minute, Jarvis scored. Alex Alatorre put the ball in on an assist from Carlos Hernandez.

A shot from each team followed but time ran out to end the game with the Saints winning 4-3.

Scoring overview
27′ – OLLU – Kevin Rios

40′ – OLLU – Cristian Govea-Mireles, assisted by Matthew Banda

48′ – JCU – Johan Arevalo

56′ – JCU – Johan Arevalo

66′ – OLLU – Javier Pena

70′ – OLLU – Michael Huff, assisted by Cristian Govea Mireles

88′ – JCU – Alex Alatorre

Inside the box score
Javier Pena and Cade Ryan led the Saints with four shots each. Pena had two on goal. Diego Anzaldua and Johan Arevalo each had four shots, three on goal, for the Bulldogs.

Overall, the Saints totaled 21 shots, 10 on goal. The Bulldogs had 19 shots, 11 on goal.

OLLU recorded six corner kicks and JCU had four.

What’s next
The Saints travel to Victoria, Texas, for a conference match against the University of Houston-Victoria on Oct. 20.

Men’s soccer ties versus Paul Quinn College

The men’s soccer team drew against Paul Quinn College (PQC) on Saturday 1-1. The Saints move to 0-8-3 overall and 0-4-2 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Tigers are now 7-2-3 overall and 1-1-3 in conference play.

Head Coach Arthur Salazar said, “We created several good chances throughout the game. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize on them and left the game in a back-and-forth contest. Coming away with a draw is not ideal, but we will take the point and continue to press on.”

History
The Saints were 3-1-1 against the Tigers prior to the match.

Basics
The Saints outplayed the Tigers on Saturday but were unable to come out with the victory. The Tigers scored first at the 33rd minute with a goal from Jarrett Williams. OLLU struck back quickly when Kevin Rios evened the match at the 39th minute. The Saints took seven shots in the second half and limited the Tigers to three. Paul Quinn was forced to make five total saves and withstood the Saints pressure in the second half to end in a tie.

Scoring overview
33′ – PQC – Jarrett Williams

39′ – OLLU – Kevin Rios

Inside the box score
Rios led the Saints with three shots on goal. Four different players for the Tigers had one shot on goal each.

Overall, the Saints tallied 12 shots, with six on goal. PQC recorded 10 shots with four shots on goal.

The Saints had five corner kicks while the Tigers took four.

What’s next
The Saints return home to battle Texas College on Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m.

Men’s soccer ousted by OCU 2-0

The men’s soccer team fell to Oklahoma City University (OCU) 2-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Saints drop to 0-4-1 while the Stars improve to 6-2-0.

History
The Saints were 2-3-2 against the Stars prior to the matchup.

Basics
The Saints had a tough time offensively against the Stars on Saturday. OLLU was only able to record one shot in the first half compared to Oklahoma City’s four. The Stars first goal came at the 32nd minute when Lucas de Freitas scored on assist from John Woodhead. The Saints were also limited to one corner kick.

The energy picked up for the Saints in the second half. They added three shots and three corner kicks. Joseph Baker totaled three saves in the second half and four total. Despite the play picking up for the Saints in the second frame, they were unable to score. The Stars added another goal by de Freitas in the 69th minute with an assist from Jordan Da Costa. OCU won 2-0 backed by 11 shots. There were 27 total fouls called throughout the match.

Scoring overview
32′ – OCU – Lucas de Freitas (assisted by John Woodhead)

69′ – OCU – Lucas de Freitas (assisted by Jordan Da Costa)

Penalty summary
29′ – Yellow Card – OLLU – Cristian Govea Mireles

60′ – Yellow Card – OCU – Jusung Kang

70′ – Yellow Card – OLLU – Michael Huff

77′ – Yellow Card – OCU – Harvey Paul

77′ – Yellow Card – OLLU – Cade Ryan

81′ – Yellow Card – OCU – Lucas de Freitas

85′ – Yellow Card – OLLU – Abraham Lincon

85′ – Yellow Card – OLLU – Aidan White

Inside the box score
Harry Acklam and Michael Huff had one shot on goal each for the Saints. The Stars were led by three players with two shots on goal apiece.

Overall, the Saints tallied four shots, with two on goal. OCU marked 11 shots with six on goal.

OLLU recorded four corner kicks and the Stars took three.

What’s next
The Saints start Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play at LSU-Shreveport on Sept. 22 at 3:30 p.m.

Men’s soccer comeback bid falls short against UMHB

The men’s soccer team dropped a close match against NCAA D3 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) on Saturday night in a 3-2 defeat. The Saints drop to 0-2-1 overall while the Cru jumps to 2-1.

Head Coach Arthur Salazar commented, “We played a hard-fought game tonight. Unfortunately, mental errors in the first half put us in a big hole that we couldn’t get out of. Credit to the squad for working hard to get back into the game in the second half, but in order to start winning matches, we need to be focused for the entire 90 minutes.”

History
The Saints won the only previous meeting against the Cru in 2019.

Basics
The Saints started slow against the Cru on Saturday night. The Cru was able to capitalize on two goals early on. UMHB scored again just over 20 minutes after halftime to take a 3-0 advantage. The Saints were able to cut the lead to two goals when Javier Pena converted on a penalty kick. Miguel Barrera scored three minutes later with an assist from Benjamin Rios. The Saints battled for the final ten minutes but were unable to tie the match. The Saints and Cru totaled 38 fouls throughout the contest.

Scoring overview
21′ – UMHB – Daniel Lyon (assisted by Sawyer Young and Ben Platt)

24′ – UMHB – Alex Bethke

64′ – UMHB – Daniel Lyon

77′ – OLLU – Javier Pena

80′ – OLLU – Miguel Barrera (assisted by Benjamin Rios)

Inside the box score
Four different Saints had one shot on goal each. The Cru was led by Alex Bethke and Daniel Lyon with two shots on goal apiece.

Overall, the Saints tallied 10 shots, with four on goal. UMHB marked 18 shots with eight on goal.

OLLU recorded two corner kicks and the Cru took four.

What’s next
The Saints host University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Sept. 15 at 3:30 p.m.

Men’s soccer picked fourth in conference preseason poll

After finishing the 2021 campaign in second place, the men’s soccer team will enter this season picked to finish fourth in the Red River Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The three-time defending champion University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) was the unanimous selection to win again after collecting all 12 first-place votes to reach the top spot in the poll again this year.

In 2021, OLLU went 8-5-3 overall and 7-1-3 in the RRAC. The Saints follow the second pick LSU-Shreveport and third pick LSU-Alexandria. After OLLU are the University of the Southwest – picked fifth, Huston-Tillotson University and Louisiana Christian University – tied for sixth and Jarvis Christian University and Texas A&M University-Texarkana – tied for eighth.

Paul Quinn College, Texas A&M University-San Antonio and Texas College rounded out the list.

Men’s soccer awarded 11 All-Conference team honors

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2021 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team and Players of the Year.

Norberto Lira (SR/Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico) was awarded First Team honors. The senior had five goals during the regular season for the Saints with two assists. He also tallied 15 shots on goal.

Juan Martin Chica (SR/Cali, Colombia), Said Salas (FR/El Paso, Texas), Javier Pena (JR/San Antonio, Texas), Patrick Pye (SR/Norwich, England) and Joseph Baker (JR/Llantwit Major, Wales, U.K.) made the Second Team. Chica led the team with seven goals. Salas tallied three goals, Pena recorded nine shots, Pye was an integral part of the defense, and Baker made 46 saves with two shutouts. Salas also made the All-Freshman Team.

Newcomer Michael Huff (SO/San Antonio, Texas) and defender Connor Bagley (JR/Norwich, Norfolk, U.K.) were presented with honorable mentions. Huff had one goal and Bagley worked with Pye to deliver lockdown defense. Carlos Beltran (SR/San Antonio, Texas) was named a Champion of Character and had one goal with one assist.

OLLU MEN’S SOCCER TAKES ON TLU TODAY AT 4 P.M.

OLLU men’s soccer program returns to normalcy for its 15th season this fall after a delayed 2020 season that was pushed to spring of 2021. The Saints take on Texas Lutheran University (3-1-2) today at 4 p.m. on the OLLU Soccer Field.

Head Coach Arthur Salazar is entering his first year of managing both the men’s team, while also head coaching the women’s program for his ninth season.

Beginning the season
OLLU will face off with Schreiner University (4-1) in Kerrville, Texas, on Sept. 1 for the first regular-season match. They continue the road trip by traveling to Hattiesburg, Miss., to play No. 13-ranked William Carey University (0-1) on Sept. 10 and No. 18-ranked the University of Mobile in Mobile, Ala., the following day.

Prior to Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) competition starting, the Saints visit nearby rivals NCAA D2 St. Mary’s University (1-4) on Sept. 16. (Numbers after school indicate all-time records).

Conference opponents
OLLU, picked fourth in the preseason conference poll, starts RRAC play at home on Sept. 23 against one of the tougher teams in the conference, LSU-Shreveport (5-4), which has been selected to finish second in the poll. Texas A&M University-Texarkana (7-0), picked sixth, travels to San Antonio two days later to face the Saints. The first road trip starts on Sept. 30 with a match against LSU-Alexandria (2-5-3), picked third, and RRAC newcomer Louisiana College, picked tied for eighth, on Oct. 2.

The Saints return home to battle the University of the Southwest (11-5), picked fifth, on Oct. 7 and Paul Quinn College (3-1), picked 12th, on Oct. 9. The squad travels to Tyler, Texas, to face Texas College (9-2-1), picked tied for 10th, on Oct. 14 and Jarvis Christian College (7-0), picked tied for 10th, in Hawkins, Texas, on Oct. 16. The last three matches of the season include a home match against the University of Houston-Victoria (7-7-2), picked first, on Oct. 21, a road test versus Huston-Tillotson University (8-8-1), picked seventh, on Oct. 23 and the season finale at home for the first-ever match against Texas A&M University-San Antonio, picked tied for eighth, on Oct 30.

Soccer’s Brinkley and Pye named to Academic All-America NAIA Soccer Team

OLLU soccer student-athletes Dawson Brinkley and Patrick Pye have been selected to the Academic All-America® NAIA Soccer teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Brinkley was named to the first team, while Pye made the second team.

The NAIA Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-2021 NAIA Academic All-America® teams program.

Brinkley, a junior forward from San Antonio, played in all 12 of OLLU women’s soccer games this past spring. She had one goal while taking 12 shots, eight on goal. Brinkley is second all-time in goals with 33 (38 is the record). In 2018, Brinkley broke the season record for most goals with 21, she was second in shots on goal with 41 (46 is the record), and she had the most shots in a season with 77. She also holds the record for most game-winning goals with eight.

Brinkley has accumulated a wide variety of individual awards, as well, including NAIA All-American Honorable Mention (2018), two All-Conference First Team awards (2018/2019), three conference Offensive Player of the Week awards (2018/2019), and two All-Tournament awards (2018/2019). Brinkley was the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in 2018. In addition, she has earned conference Scholar-Athlete awards in all three of her years at OLLU. She earned a cumulative 3.8 GPA. She will enter her senior year at OLLU this fall.

Pye, a junior transfer student from Norwich, Norfolk, U.K., started at OLLU in 2019. As a defender, he played eight of 10 games for the Saints this year and marked one goal, 10 shots and one shot on goal. He was selected to the conference’s All-Conference First Team this year, and last year, he made the Second Team. Pye earned conference Scholar-Athlete honors in both his years at OLLU, earning 4.0 GPAs. He will enter his senior year at OLLU this fall.

Since 1952, CoSIDA has presented these awards annually to student-athletes to recognize their outstanding academic and athletic achievements. The achievements of student-athletes in the classroom and on the playing fields and courts indicate their passion as true student-athletes.

CoSIDA member Patty Constantin, OLLU’s Sports Information Director, nominated several student-athletes. Two were selected from the women’s soccer team as recipients (Mikaela Gilbert) and one from the men’s soccer team. CoSIDA receives about 20,000 nominations throughout the academic year across all championship sports. From those nominations, approximately 5,000 student-athletes receive all-district recognition. First-team all-district selections advance to the national ballot. CoSIDA members vote, and 1,500 student-athletes receive Academic All-America honors.

Many women’s soccer student-athletes from OLLU have received this honor. They include 2011: Abby DuLaney; 2012: Emily Backus; 2012: Rebekah Valenta; 2013: Erika Thompson; 2014: Erika Thompson; 2014: Teegan Luckemeyer; 2015: Erika Thompson; 2015: Teegan Luckemeyer; 2016: Brooke Cousins; 2019: Dawson Brinkley. The following received Academic All-American honors: 2012: Rebekah Valenta; 2015: Erika Thompson; 2016: Brooke Cousins.

Men’s soccer student-athletes who have received All-District honors were 2011: Gary Hamilton; 2015: Jared Poling; 2018: Jorge Cavazos and Adrian Delgado. The following received Academic All-American honors: 2011: Gary Hamilton; 2018: Jorge Cavazos.

For more information on the Academic All-America® program, go to https://academicallamerica.com/.

Men’s soccer welcomes San Antonio native Christopher Vivar

The men’s soccer team announced the signing of Christopher Vivar.

The incoming freshman will join the team for the fall 2021 season. Vivar is a native of San Antonio and graduated from Madison High School. The 5’11” center back earned First Team All-District and Academic All-District honors during his high school career. He will be majoring in business management.

The men’s soccer team finished 5-4-1 and lost in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Tournament semifinals. Arthur Salazar enters his first season as men’s soccer head coach and will continue coaching the women’s soccer program for his ninth year.