LAREDO, Texas – The season's first meeting of 2013's Heartland Conference co-champions featured frenetic play through all 90 minutes of action. In the end, it was the visiting St. Edward's Hilltoppers that completed the, 2-1, comeback victory against Texas A&M International University at the TAMIU Soccer Complex on Wednesday.
"It was a match that presented both teams opportunities to score and win," TAMIU coach Claudio Arias said. "Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our lead after scoring first. Then, in the end, we made two mistakes and St. Edward's capitalized off them."
Despite it officially being a non-conference match between fierce Heartland rivals, both sides' form flowed finely – including a combined 29 shots being taken with 12 falling on frame. The Hilltoppers (2-2-0, 0-0-0 Heartland) and Dustdevils (3-2-0, 0-0-0) have combined to claim six conference championships in five years.
A set piece primed the Dustdevils' goal in just the 10th minute. From the corner flag, sophomore winger Funcia Kenneh let a fluttering feed fly across the face of the goal, where junior center back Juan Ramirez towered to nod it into the back of the net. The early go-ahead goal was Ramirez's first of the season and it was Kenneh's first assist.
The Dustdevils' slender lead stood for 40 minutes, but the Hilltoppers scored via a favorable deflection off an initial save by TAMIU goalkeeper Solomon Moctezume. Seven minutes later, SEU doubled its total off a counter attack that caught an aggressive Dustdevils unit out of position.
A flurry of chances to equalize were presented at the Dustdevils feet in the final 15 minutes, including two corner kicks inside the final five minutes, but none blossomed into conversions.
Moctezume completed five saves in the match.
The Dustdevils look to rebound with a string of five consecutive away matches, starting with the Heartland opener at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin on Sept. 22 at 2:30 p.m. TAMIU returns home to host Lubbock Christian on Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Adam Geigerman,
Sports Information Director and Promotions Specialist
956-326-3007
AdamS.Geigerman@TAMIU.edu
www.GoDustdevils.com
