Above photo courtesy of the UMHB Athletics Department
BELTON, Texas- The last time the UMHB men’s soccer team faced Ozarks, the Crusaders’ season was ended on placekicks.
But in a hint of revenge, UMHB took down Ozarks at home in the conference opener, winning 3-2 on Thursday night.
Though the match was abruptly stopped in the 48th minute due to lightning in the area- a delay that lasted nearly an hour and a half- the Cru lost none of its momentum, roaring back to score the next three goals.
After the Eagles struck first on a Kyle Seymour goal at the 19:38 mark, the score remained 1-0 until halftime. The Eagles were without their leading scorer for much of the second half, as Seymour was given a red card in the 57th minute, having already picked up one yellow card just over five minutes into the contest.
It seemed that the weather delay gave UMHB a second wind, as the previously scoreless Crusaders found the back of the net three times in the span of five minutes. The first goal came in a rather unique way with 52:11 on the clock, as Ethan Buchanan delivered a shot, and the ball was deflected by a Ozarks player into the right corner of the goal.
That tied the score, but it did not remain knotted at one for long. A penalty kick from forward Patrick Roach in the 56th minute put UMHB in the lead, and the Cru did not look back. Leading scorer Seth Neveloff capped off the Cru’s scoring a little over one minute later, making the score 3-1.
Though Ozarks managed to get one of its three second-half shots past UMHB goalkeeper Dalton Lloyd in the 81st minute, the Crusader defense protected the lead, winning 3-2.
The comeback win moved UMHB to 3-0 in ASC play. The Cru is the only team in the conference with three victories, and sits atop the standings with nine points (each team is awarded points for a win or a draw; wins are worth three points).
The aggressive nature of the contest resembled the last meeting between the two opponents, as a total of 21 fouls and five cards were called. However, just one of those cards was against UMHB. The Cru also picked up 11 fouls.
UMHB women’s soccer dominates in 8-0 victory
The UMHB women’s soccer team had little trouble pulling past Ozarks, in a dominant 8-0 victory on Thursday afternoon. It was the highest scoring performance from the Crusaders since their 11-0 shutout of Louisiana College on Sept. 16, 2016.
The high-powered UMHB offensive attack scored 16:40 into the match, as Kelsey White found the back of the net on an assist from Mackenzie Worthy.
A goal from Maria Rico in the 23rd minute was all the scoring UMHB posted in the first half, despite taking 11 shots. Holding a 2-0 advantage, the Cru took 21 shots over the final 45 minutes, netting six additional goals, running away with the win.
White and Rico each added their second goals of the match in the second half, and also contributed to the scoring with assists. White tallied two assists, while Rico added one.
Ozarks was limited to just two shots for the entirety of the contest, neither of which was on goal.
UMHB moved to 2-1 in conference action, and is tied for second place in the conference standings with six points.
Both the men’s and women’s teams battle UT-Dallas on Saturday evening in Belton, with the women’s contest set for 5:00 p.m. CT and the men set to play at 7:0 p.m. CT.
