By Jackson Keenan, Staff
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Mens and Womens soccer team faced the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets on Thursday Oct. 24 and the Hardin Simmons Cowboys on Saturday Oct. 26.
The Men's team started off the week with a dominating win over Howard Payne 3-0. The game started off quickly for the crusaders when Junior midfielder Karsen Macias found the back of the net to put the Cru up 1-0. The Crusaders would continue to put pressure on the Yellow Jackets putting up 12 shots in the first half. On the defensive side, the Crusaders held Howard Payne to only three shots on goal, and were all saved by Sophomore goalkeeper Hayden Owens.
The second half would see the Cru add to the lead in the 69th minute when Junior Nicholas Arellano, scored off an assist from Macias. Senior midfielder Sawyer Young would join the scoring in the 75th minute when he scored off of a penalty kick. This would seal the game for the Crusaders as they would go on to win 3-0.
On Sat. The men's team would drastically improve their odds to win the American Southwest Conference regular season championship when they shutout Hardin Simmons 2-0.
The game would start relatively quietly with both teams being held scoreless until the 24 minute when freshman midfielder Adian Aguilera, took the lead for the Crusaders as they would go into halftime 1-0.
Macias would find the net for a second time this past week in the 60th minute when he scored off an assist from Freshman defender Carter Simpson. On the defensive side Owens held the Cowboys offense to a scoreless game with an impressive seven saves as the Cru would go on to win the pivotal conference game 2-0.
On the Women's side the Crusaders would take the win over Howard Payne 1-0 this past Thur.
The game started off as a defensive battle until the 31st minute when Senior forward Natile Mason scored a solo goal as the Cru would lead going into half 1-0. The second half saw continued pressure from the Cru offense but unfortunately, they could find the back of the net. However, the defense displayed their strength as the Yellow Jackets were held to zero shots on goal in the second half.
Their next game was on Sat. Oct. 24 and was a must win for the Crusaders as they took on current frontrunner in the ASC Hardin Simmons.
The first half saw lockdown defense for both squads with the Cru holding the Cowboys to only two shots on goal and the cru were held to only two shots on goal as well. The Cowboys struck first when in the 64th minute they found the go ahead goal to push the score to 1-0. The Crusaders would try to respond as they would put up four shots on goal in the second but they couldn’t find the scoreboard and lost 0-1.
After the weekend the Men's team sits firmly atop the ASC conference leaderboard with one week remaining while the women control second place in the conference behind Hardin Simmons. Both teams will finish their regular seasons on the road against Letoneau on Thurs. And East Texas Baptist on Sat.
