MARSHALL, Texas- Looking to close out the 2017 campaign on a high note, the East Texas Baptist University men's soccer team will be on the road for the final two matches of the season. ETBU will first travel to Brownwood, Texas, for a meeting with Howard Payne University on Thursday, Oct. 26. The Tigers will then play their last match of the year against the University of Texas-Dallas on Saturday, Oct. 28. ETBU is currently 5-7-3 overall, with a 1-6-2 record in American Southwest Conference matches.
In the first meeting with the Yellow Jackets, the Tigers were able to come away with the 4-3 victory on Cornish Field in a non-conference match. In the all-time matchup, ETBU holds the edge with a 9-5 record in 14 matches played thus far. HPU is looking to regroup from a 1-0 loss to Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday, Oct. 14. The Yellow Jacket's last victory was on Oct. 7, winning 2-1 against Concordia University Texas.
The Tigers will conclude their season against the University of Texas-Dallas on Saturday, Oct. 28. In last year's contest with the Comets, the Tigers fell 3-1 on Cornish Field. Overall, UTD has an 18-4-3 advantage in 25 matches played. The Comets are coming off of a road trip in Los Angeles, Calif., where they went 1-0-1 with a 3-2 victory coming against UC Santa Cruz on Sunday, Oct. 22.
Leading the offensive attack for ETBU is
Silas Sangano, with three goals and seven total points on the year. Sangano has recorded 16 shots this season, with half of those shots coming right at the net.
Daniel Rutter also has three goals on the season to go along with six points. Rutter has taken 14 shots and five on goal for the Tigers.
Jordan Burke sits in third place in offensive ranks on the team. Burke has scored two goals on 17 total shots and seven coming on goal.
Bryant Botello mans the defensive effort for ETBU. The Co-Defensive Player of the Week has 54 saves and a save percentage of 71.1 percent.
With two matches remaining, head coach
Chris Crawford talked about what his team needs to do to close out the season strong.
"It's going to be a tough test in these last two matches. We've got to come ready to work and ready to execute if we want to pull out the win," Crawford said.
Thursday's match is set for 3:30 p.m. in Brownwood, Texas.
