BETHANY — The cards were in favor of the Southern Nazarene University Men's Soccer team Thursday night as they claimed a 3-2 victory against Ouachita Baptist to open conference play. Coming off a two game losing streak last week, SNU (4-3, 1-0 GAC) was seeking redemption against their first GAC matchup this season. Just when the Tigers (0-4-1, 0-1 GAC) started to get back into the game, the Storm quickly increased the tempo and maintained their lead which eventually secured them the conference victory.
Intensity would rule the match all evening long as four yellow cards were handed out and a total of 16 fouls were committed throughout the game. The Storm were the obvious offensive threat as they out shot the Tigers 22-11 with seven of those on goal to the Tigers three.
The Storm were the first to make their mark as
Eric Romero found an opening and sunk one in just past the 20th minute. The Tigers answered shortly after with their first goal of the night to tie the match 1-1 with 15 left in the first. The game would go back and forth for a while but just before the first period would close, SNU's late own goal would send them into the half with the 2-1 lead.
As the second half commenced, the game would remain 2-1 for the majority of the period as neither team could find an edge. As the clock lowered to the 86th minute,
Orlando Castro found
Daniel Trojman through a sea of players in purple for SNU's third and final goal of the night putting them ahead two against the Tigers. Ouachita wasn't quite finished as ten seconds had passed and they snuck by the Storm with a dagger to the back bringing the score 3-2 with just four left to play. The Storm would stand their ground and hold off the Tigers for the remainder of the match claiming the 3-2 victory granting them the 1-0 conference record.
Trojman stepped up big for the Storm tallying four shots and one goal on the night while his assister, Castro, notched one shot, one shot on goal, and one assist. Romero also added to the energy with two shots and one of SNU's three goals on the night. Other notables this match were
Alessandro Alfaro,
Nathaniel Mederos, and
Juan Rodarte each tallying two shots and one shot on goal.
The Storm are back at home this Saturday to continue conference play as they host the Bisons of Harding University with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
