Box Score CANYON, Texas (September 21, 2017) – Elias Perales chose an excellent time to score his first collegiate goal as the Texas A&M International University men's soccer team defeated the Buffs of West Texas A&M 1-0 on Thursday night at The Pitch in Canyon. The 1-0 score line in favor of TAMIU ends a four-match winning streak for WT as the Dustdevils improve to 2-1-2 overall and 1-1-1 and conference play while the Buffs drop to 3-3-0 (1-2-0).
 
Perales was the goal scorer for TAMIU but it was sophomore Rafael Montabes who had best match of 2017 with a season-high five shots while Max Cruz and Andres Ogaz all registered two shots apiece. Carlos Herrera (2-1-2) was forced to make two saves en route to picking up his third shutout of the season.
 
The Dustdevils came within inches of drawing first blood at 13:41but Montabes shot went off the post before being cleared out of danger by WT. TAMIU continued to pressure the Buffs as Cruz forced WT's Alexander Vencel to make a save in the 20^th minute.  Andres Ogaz registered the team's final shot of the first half in the 38^th minute
 
Montabes continued to cause trouble in the second half forcing another Vencel save in the 47^th minute followed by three other shots that went wide or were blocked over the next ten minutes. But it was Perales who deservingly put the Dustdevils ahead in the 64^th minute on a breakaway goal. The Laredo native kept his cool as he found himself all alone with WT's Vencel before calmly slotting the ball into the lower left corner.
 
After going up a goal, the Dustdevils were forced to defend more as the Buffs committed more numbers to their attack. Herrera came up big in the final 25 minutes denying both Gabe Williams and Reece Schattle on clear goal scoring opportunities.
 
The Dustdevils will look to extend their win streak to two matches when they take on Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m. (CT).