By Bradley Melchor
The UMHB Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams were back in action over the weekend, as they welcomed ASC rivals the University of the Ozarks and the University of Texas-Dallas to town for a pair of conference play games.
The women’s team opened the two game home stand with an emphatic victory over the University of the Ozarks on Thursday night, extending their record breaking undefeated streak to 12 games while winning by a score of 3-0. The Crusaders dominated from the opening whistle, outshooting the visiting Eagles by a staggering 35 shots to none, with goals coming from sophomore midfielder Jayme Dowell, sophomore defender Kennedy Harris, and freshman midfielder Kaitlynn Neil.
The men’s team also faced off against the University of the Ozarks on Thursday night, looking to maintain their own perfect start to their ASC campaign. The Crusaders piled on the pressure in the first half, outshooting the Eagles 13 shots to 3, and taking a 1-0 lead into the halftime break courtesy of a goal from sophomore forward Xjavier Martinez. The floodgates opened for the Cru in the second half, with junior midfielder Mason Munoz finding the back of the back of the net for the Cru’s second goal of the night, and sophomore forward Karsen Macias adding a pair of goals to put the Cru up four en route to a comfortable 4-1 win.
The Cru were back in action on Saturday night as they hosted the visiting University of Texas-Dallas Comets. The women’s team once again dominated the run of play, outshooting the Comets 27 to 5 on the night, with senior forward Mackenzie Worthy finding the back of the net to put the Cru up 1-0 early in the second half. The Cru would see their historic 12 game winning streak come to end though, as they were denied victory by a UTD equalizer with just six minutes left on the clock.
The men’s team faced their UTD counterparts on Saturday night as well, walking away with a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Comets. The Cru put the game away early, with junior midfielder Sawyer Young and junior forward Ethan Dacaret finding the winning goals in the first half, while UTD went down to 10 men after picking up an early red card.
With both teams picking up a pair of positive results over the weekend, both the UMHB Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams have vaulted themselves into the top spot of the American Southwest Conference Standings. The Cru will look to maintain their control of the #1 seed when they hit the road to take on Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene on Thursday night. The women’s team will kick off at 5 p.m while the men’s team will kick off at 7:30 p.m.
