Sept. 18, 2009

Final Stats

Texas A&M International University shook off some early-season struggles and played its best game of the 2009 campaign on Friday night at Dustdevil Field. The result was a convincing 4-1 Heartland Conference win over Newman.

Newman (1-4-1, 0-1 Heartland) took a 1-0 lead on a Cion Samuel goal in the 18th minute. TAMIU's offensive was a bit sluggish for most of the first half but Abdiel Amador tied the score 1-1 when he tapped a Caio Zanata cross into an open net from one yard out with 22 seconds remaining in the period.

TAMIU (1-3-1, 1-0-1) looked like a different team in the second half. The Dustdevils took a 2-1 lead on a zig zag pass and shot into the net from Zanata to Oscar Suvias in the 46th minute. TAMIU kept the pressure up and Theo Brown secured the win with goals from 15 yards out in the 60th minute and 30 yards out in the 82nd minute.

TAMIU out-shot NU 13-5 in the second half and 17-8 for the game.

Dustdevil senior goalkeeper Luis Rincon made four saves for the game. He made back-to-back clutch stops on a penalty kick and a close-range shot taken on the rebound from that kick in the 50th minute, right after TAMIU had taken a 2-1 lead.

TAMIU returns to action on Sunday when it will close-out a season-opening six-game home stand against UT-Permian Basin. Kickoff against the Falcons is scheduled for 5 p.m.