HOUSTON – Senior forward
George Kelley's goal midway through the second half was all the scoring HBU needed as it defeated visiting Central Arkansas, 1-0, Sunday afternoon from Sorrels Field.
"Throughout the game, we possessed some great opportunities," said HBU head coach
Steve Jones. "Their keeper made some great saves. Coming off Thursday's loss at SMU and the concern about how the boys bounce back from that, I thought we did a good job. We just need to continue to work on finishing plays. If we finish, we make the game easier in the end. Getting the home win before heading into conference was important."
Kelley earned the two points to lead HBU (4-4-0), while
Darrell Johnson and
Alex Baez – seeing his first action of the season – recorded the assists. Kelley and
Erick Aragon took a match-high four shots apiece.
Philip Poser started in goal and took the no-decision, as he made one save in 45 minutes.
Chance Pope improved to 3-1-0 on the season as he also stopped one shot in 45 minutes.
Blake Stricker and Carson Cacciatore each had a shot on goal to lead Central Arkansas (1-6-0). Harrison Veith played tough in goal, as he stopped seven shots in the complete-game effort.
HBU had a strong chance to take an early lead 10 minutes into the match, as Veith stopped
Marcelo Acuna's shot attempt, the rebound found
Marc- Anthone, but his shot sailed high.
HBU outshot the Bears, 8-6, in the opening half and 4-1 in shots on goal. Corner kicks were 4-3 in favor of the Bears.
Veith made a tremendous save on
Thilo Borgmann's scoring chance in the 52nd minute, keeping the match scoreless.
In the 72nd minute, the Huskies' persistence paid off as Kelley scored after an offensive onslaught. Veith stopped an initial shot, the ball was bouncing around, Johnson attempted a shot, but was blocked. Baez found Kelley behind the keeper and scored into an open net.
The Huskies doubled up UCA in second-half shots, 8-4, and held a 16-10 advantage for the match. Each team took two corner kicks, as the Bears held a slim 6-5 lead in that category for the match.
HBU gets a couple of weeks off before opening Western Athletic Conference play at UNLV Oct. 2 and Grand Canyon Oct. 4. Both matches are scheduled for 9 pm central time starts.
