MARSHALL, Texas – Entering the American Southwest Conference portion of the 2018 schedule, the East Texas Baptist University men's soccer team will take on both the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Concordia (TX) this week. Coming into the conference matchups, ETBU is 2-1 overall, winning their last match 1-0 against Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga.
Silas Sangano and freshman
Rafael Mijares have scored the only two goals for ETBU, each with one goal through the first three games. Leading the way in shot attempts is
Juan Cairo, who has taken six total shots and one coming right on goal.
Travis Floyd ranks second on the team in shot attempts, with five total.
As a team, ETBU has scored three goals on 10.7 shot attempts per match. The Tigers have also surrendered five shots, and has recorded a total of 32 shots while giving up 48. On the defensive end, reigning ASC Player of the Week
Bryant Botello leads the team with 11 saves on the season.
UMHB comes into Thursday's match undefeated, at 4-0 thus far. The Cru last defeated Covenant College (Ga.) 1-0 on Saturday, Sept. 8. In the last meeting between these two teams, UMHB came away with the 2-1 win on Cornish Field. In the overall season series, ETBU owns the edge going 9-4-2 over 15 matches played.
The Tigers will conclude the short trip with a game against Concordia (TX) on Saturday, Sept. 15. Entering the weekend contest, CTX is 1-2 thus far, with their lone victory coming against Texas Lutheran, 2-1, to start the year. Last year's match with ETBU ended with the Tornados taking the commanding 3-0 win on Cornish Field. In the overall series, ETBU owns the edge, tallying a record of 11-6 through 17 matches played.
Heading into two tough matches, Head Coach
Chris Crawford believes that this is the perfect opportunity for his team to build on the positive chemistry they established during the team's first road trip.
"This week is going to be tough. Every game in conference can go either way, so it's important for us to take advantage of every opportunity. The returners are going to be ready for a rematch against a top-notch program. Our freshman are ecstatic as well. We're prepared to give them our best game," Crawford said.
ETBU will match up against UMHB on Thursday, Sept. 13 from Round Rock, Texas. The match is set to kick-off at 1:30 p.m.
