SAN ANTONIO –
Ben Conway scored a pair of goals on senior night as the University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team capped the 2016 season with a 2-2 draw against Utah Valley in a Western Athletic Conference game on Saturday at Benson Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cardinals (4-9-4, 2-5-3 WAC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 12
th minute when Conway scored a beautiful goal off of a free-kick from about 20 yards out. Conway flicked the ball with his left foot over the wall and beat the goalie to the near upper 90. Then in the second half, Conway nearly scored on an identical goal, but this time the free-kick was even further—about 28 yards.
With the 2-0 lead, everything seemed to be going right for the Cardinals, but the top team in the WAC wasn't going away easily. They outshot UIW 10-7 in the second half and 20-15 in the game. Two defensive miscues led to two goals for Utah Valley (15-3-1, 8-1-1 WAC) to comeback to rescue one point. The first goal came from a penalty kick. Aaron Meyer secured PK with his third goal of the season. Then in the 79
th minute, Aaron Caprio took a shot that was saved by
Jorge Guzman, but the rebound landed in Paul Hoffmeister's foot, and he was able to find the back of the net to make it 2-2 with his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
LEADERS
Ben Conway came into the game ranked second in the conference and added to his total with seven shots on the evening. He led the team in shots and also scored the two goals, making his season total six.
Thomas Bibby took three shots, two of which were on goal.
For the Wolverines, both Hoffmeister and Meyer led the team with four shots and a goal each. Caprio got credited with an assist on the second goal, which is his first of the season.
GOALKEEPER DECISION
UIW's Guzman played all 110 minutes and allowed two goals, while coming up with some very key saves. He ended the night with a season-high 12 saves.
Utah Valley played Mitch Jensen in the first half and Elliot Rubio the rest of the way. Jensen allowed one goal and had two saves, while Rubio also gave up one goal and saved five shots on goal.
QUOTES
Ben Conway on his two goals:
"We should have won that game, but I am happy to finish my career here at UIW with those two goals. I've been working on a few set pieces during training, but none of them went in like that.
"My career here at Incarnate Word has been a great experience. First coming from England I had no idea what Incarnate Word was. In my first training session here I remember throwing up because of the heat but I've been building up ever since. I've really enjoyed my time here."
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