SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team battled Seattle University for 110 minutes, and after giving up an early goal 34 seconds into the game, they came back to tie it, ending the game in a 1-1 draw on Friday night at Benson Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Seattle (9-4-2, 5-0-2 WAC) came into the game as the best team in the Western Athletic Conference and they showed why early on. Just 34 seconds into the game, their leading scorer, Alex Roldan, gave the Redhawks a 1-0 lead when he beat UIW's
Jorge Guzman after a great assist from David Olsen.
After the first few minutes of the game, the Cardinals (4-6-3, 2-2-2 WAC) turned the game around and controlled most of the flow of the game. They outshot the visiting team 22-14, and found many opportunities to tie the game but came up short most of the night, thanks in part to the Redhawks' goalkeeper Jordan Hadden. He came up with seven saves on the night. It wasn't until the 76
th minute that
Ryan Osborne found
Ben Conway about 15 yards out of the goal, and Conway hit a terrific shot to the upper right corner to beat Hadden—only the fourth goal he has given up all season—and give the Cardinals the definitive 1-1.
The two overtimes saw both teams battling back-and-forth, but neither one found the back of the net.
The Redhawks remain undefeated in conference with two draws, while the Cardinals add their second tie in conference.
LEADERS
Ben Conway came into the game ranked third in the conference in shots taken, and again led the team tonight with a season-high 10 shots. He also scored his team-leading fourth goal.
Trinidad Luna,
Miguel Ojeda, and
Ronan Fournier each took two shots for UIW.
For Seattle, Roldan took three shots and scored his team-high sixth goal of the season. Cameron Rohani also took three shots on the evening.
GOALKEEPER DECISION
UIW's Guzman played all 110 minutes and only allowed a goal in the first minute. After that, he and the defense kept the best team in the conference scoreless for 109 minutes. Guzman had two saves.
Seattle's Hadden saved seven shots on goal and only allowed the one goal. He had a tremendous save in the 50
th minute when Fournier took a shot from about 18 yards out, and he was able to get a hand on the ball and deflect it onto the crossbar. The ball rebounded to the feet of Osborne, who took another shot, and Hadden was there to stop it as well.
QUOTES
Ben Conway on the tie:
"Tonight was a big game for us. We knew Seattle was the best team in the conference. After they scored an early goal, we did a good job to come back from that. I think they were lucky to get away with the draw at the end.
We've had some bad results against some teams we should have beaten, but now we know we can play against one of the best teams in the country. So moving forward we feel like we can beat any team we have left in our season."
Head Coach,
Vince Martinez:
"I know it's a tie, but this builds confidence for our team. We didn't get off to the best of starts, but now the guys know that not only can they compete with the best team in the WAC, but also with one of the best teams in the country. They have some quality players. Some professional-type players. But once we got into a rhythm and sorted everything out, we competed at a very high level. I'm very proud of our guys tonight."
UP NEXT
The Cardinals head out west to face Grand Canyon University on Sunday at 9 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona in a conference game.
STAY TUNED
After the GCU game, the Cardinals will play two more road games before coming back home to finish the season against Utah Valley at Benson Stadium Nov. 5. The two road games are at UTRGV Oct. 27 and at Houston Baptist Oct. 30.
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.
