BELTON, Texas — In another hard-fought match with Hardin-Simmons University, East Texas Baptist University's season came to a close in the American Southwest Conference Tournament in a 2-0 loss to the Cowboys. ETBU ends its season at 9-9-1, as the nine wins are the most since 2018, when the Tigers won 10 under head coach
Chris Crawford.
ETBU outshot the Cowboys 16-15, including a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Jared Zuniga led the Tigers with three shots, one of which came on goal in the 27th minute.
Lars Clark, Dylan Garica, and
Matthew Aguilar recorded two shots. Goalkeeper
Ryan Lord finished with four saves.
The Tigers found themselves trailing early after the Cowboys netted a goal in the third minute for a 1-0 lead. ETBU pushed for an equalizer, recording two shots on goal in the fifth (
Lars Clark) and 12
th minutes (
Matthew Aguilar), but were stopped short. Three more shots were on goal in the 25
th (
Aiden Fortenberry), 28
th (
Jared Zuniga), and 29
th (
Luke Hunsinger) minutes as ETBU took eight total shots in the first half.
In the second half, the Tigers continued to apply pressure with four more shots on goal before Hardin-Simmons received an on-goal in the 83rd minute for the 2-0 lead.
Crawford has now led ETBU to eight or more wins in a season for three of his five seasons at the helm.