EDINBURG, Texas – Behind seniors
Thilo Borgmann and
George Kelley's three-point games, the HBU men's soccer team secured the number four seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament following a 2-1 win over UT Rio Grande Valley Sunday afternoon from the UTRGV Soccer Complex.
Despite having the same number of points and winning percentage as CSU Bakersfield, HBU clinches the fourth seed and CSUB gets the fifth seed due to HBU's win over Seattle, the league's top team and the Redhawks' only loss in conference play this season.
Kelley took a match-high five shots and two shots on goal to lead HBU (9-8-1 overall, 5-4-1 WAC). Along with Kelley and Borgmann,
Dominick Faletto also registered an assist, as he helped on the Huskies' first goal.
Chance Pope earned the win in goal as he made two saves.
Eight different players for UTRGV (5-12-1, 2-8-0) had a shot attempt, while Archie Massen scored the Vaqueros' goal. Leo Castillo also made two saves in goal.
Kelley gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead 10 minutes in as he accepted a pass from Faletto on the right side, deked his defender, and beat the keeper. Borgmann was also credited with an assist.
HBU held a 7-2 advantage in both shots and corner kicks in the first half.
The Huskies increased their lead to 2-0 in the 56th minute as Borgmann collected a pass from Kelley after Kelley stole the ball. Castillo came out to challenge the ball, but Borgmann scored over the Vaqueros netminder for the goal.
Six minutes later, the Vaqueros cut the deficit in half as Massen scored, assisted by Carlos Acevedo and Rico Laitinen in the 62nd minute.
With 13 minutes remaining, the Vaqueros blocked a Huskies' free kick and moved up the field, eventually having a 4-on-2 advantage, but
Sean Simmons made a spectacular defensive play to halt UTRGV's rally and keep the Huskies up by one.
In the match's final minute, HBU weathered a Vaqueros storm, as Pope punched away a couple of crosses out of harm's way. UTRGV had a free kick a few yards outside the box following a Huskies' foul with 10 seconds left. UTRGV pulled Castillo and put him in the box, giving the Vaqueros an extra body, but the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds.
Second-half shots were even at 6-all, as HBU led the category, 13-8, in the match. The Vaqueros had two of the three corners in the second half, as HBU doubled up UTRGV in the match, 8-4.
HBU plays CSU Bakersfield on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. from the Durwood Soccer Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., the second quarterfinal of the day. The winner of that match gets top-seed Seattle Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
