Photo courtesy of UMHB Athletics
BROWNWOOD, Texas — The first round of the American Southwest Conference’s double round-robin schedule saw both the UMHB men’s and women’s soccer teams roll through unscathed, picking up convincing wins over Howard Payne, ETBU, and Hardin-Simmons in that order.
With just three weeks left in the regular season, the second round of conference play kicked off Saturday night, and under the lights, the Crusaders kept the wins coming.
The women, now 6-4-4 overall with five wins in their last six matches, opened the evening doubleheader with a 2-0 shutout of Howard Payne, following up on their 1-0 win over the Yellow Jackets in Belton on Sept. 25. The men then came through to complete the sweep, edging HPU, 2-1, in The Cru’s third one-goal victory since Oct. 2.
Both teams are now a perfect 4-0 in the ASC with just two conference matches to go. The women hold a one-game lead over longtime rival—and defending ASC champion—Hardin-Simmons, while the men are the ASC’s lone team with multiple wins in league play.
In the women’s match, both back lines displayed their strength through the first 45 minutes, as UMHB held the Yellow Jackets to just one shot in that span and the HPU defensive effort limited The Cru to five. It yielded a 0-0 score into halftime, but UMHB broke through in the second half, going in front by not just one, but two goals, in the blink of an eye.
In the 56th minute, forward Leila Cunningham received a pass from Malyn Martinson and fired a shot that got past HPU goalkeeper Landry Combs. Abigail Hickman followed that up just two minutes later, as the senior midfielder netted her first goal of the season for a 2-0 lead, with Kamryn Taylor providing the assist.
All the while, UMHB’s defensive effort didn’t diminish, and The Cru maintained the clean sheet until the final horn. HPU managed just four shots in the match, marking the fourth time this season, and the second time in ASC play, that UMHB’s back line held an opponent to four shots or fewer. Less than a week after being named ASC Defensive Player of the Week for her 10 saves against HSU, goalkeeper Aubrey Tipton recorded two saves to help preserve UMHB’s third shutout in its last four matches.
While the women took control on the scoreboard in the second half, the men grabbed their lead against HPU almost immediately after the first whistle, as Karsen Macias found the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage in the fourth minute. Macias, who is tied with Peyton Hoyt, Yannis Banae, and Alex Bethke for the team lead in goals scored, scored UMHB’s first goal for the second straight match.
Davin Khaffaji then extended the lead with his third goal of the season in the 38th minute, as part of UMHB’s 11 first-half shots. HPU cut the deficit to 2-1 coming out of halftime, with Phrabvir Singh’s goal in the 47th minute, but that’s where the score stayed, as UMHB’s defense held its opponent to no more than a single goal for the fifth time in the Crusaders’ last six contests.
The Cru return to Belton next Saturday for senior day, with the women kicking off against ETBU at 5 p.m. followed by the men’s match against the Tigers at 7:30 p.m. The two squads have combined to go 9-1-3 in games played at home this season.
