MARSHALL, Texas – History will take place on Tuesday night at Cornish Field as the East Texas Baptist University men's soccer team hosts the first-ever American Southwest Conference Tournament match. Thanks in part to a four-match winning streak, including two one-goal victories against the #25 University of Texas Dallas and Howard Payne University, ETBU finished as the #4 seed just one-point ahead of the University of the Ozarks. The first-round match will between Ozarks and ETBU will start at 7:00 p.m.
Last weekend saw ETBU put together two hard-fought 2-1 to finish the regular season with a four-match winning streak. ETBU stunned #25 Texas Dallas by handing them their first ASC loss of the year on Freedom Field in Bossier City, La. This was the result of two goals in the final thirteen minutes from
Travis Atkinson and
Silas Sangano. The next night, ETBU pulled off another come-from-behind win as
Daniel Rutter scored the game-tying goal while
Max Ponticorvo delivered the game-winner six minutes into overtime.
Overall, ETBU finishes the regular season at 9-5-2 and posted a 6-3-2 ASC record. ETBU has scored 22 goals during the season with Rutter leading with seven goals and two assists for a total of 16 points. Rutter is also tied for the lead with 31 shots along with Sangano (four goals, three assists), who is second on the team with 11 assists.
Defensively, ETBU goalkeeper
Bryant Botello finishes with a 1.11 goals against making 64 saves (80% save percentage). He also posted four shutouts against Berry College, Hardin-Simmons University, Belhaven University, and Louisiana College.
Tuesday will mark ETBU's first ASC tournament appearance in five seasons, but it will be the first time the Tigers have hosted a post-season match. They face a tough Ozarks team that they tied, 3-3, earlier in the season. Since that meeting, the Eagles went undefeated winning four of their last five matches, including a 3-0 shutout of Louisiana College in the last match. Richard Souffrant has six goals to lead Ozarks while Thomas Ross has dished out eight assists. In goal, Logan Valestin has allowed 24 goals for a GAA of 1.37 while making 85 saves.
Head coach said this about facing Ozarks,"That's a tough game for us every year. It's a physical game. For us, it doesn't matter what anyone else is going to do. We have to show up. If we can show up, take care of business, we can make sure we execute our game plan for ninety minutes. That's the hardest thing about soccer. The momentum switches and you get frustrated when things don't go your way. Our guys just need to stay composed and staying in, moving the ball, stretching the field, playing quick, and really defending together."
The post season starts at 7:00 PM on Tuesday night at Cornish Field. The winner of this first round match advances on to Richardson, Texas, for the semi-final and championship rounds hosted by Texas Dallas.
