EDINBURG, Texas – Sophomore forward
Marcelo Acuna's second goal of the season gave HBU a 1-0 lead, but IPFW scored two unanswered to subdue men's soccer, 2-1, Friday afternoon on the opening day of the UT-Rio Grande Valley Invitational.
"We were on and off all day," said HBU head coach
Steve Jones. "Marcelo had a nice goal. We had great chances to score, but managed to miss easy shots to put on target. Hopefully this group will learn and overcome for the next match on Sunday."
HBU was able to weather two early IPFW corner kicks before Acuna's tally in the 25th minute, assisted by
Thilo Borgmann, who fed Acuna with an up-field pass.
The Mastadons knotted the match at one-all in the 36th minute later, as Britt Watts beat
Philip Poser on a penalty kick.
HBU outshot IPFW, 5-3, in the first half, while the Mastadons had two of the three corner kicks.
HBU had a flurry of chances in the early portion of the second half, as
Dominick Faletto's shot attempt was blocked, resulting in a corner kick.
Marc- Anthone's shot was also blocked, leading to a second corner kick. IPFW goalkeeper Raphael Kotzock made a save on Faletto, resulting in a third corner kick in a span of three minutes for the Huskies. A foul negated the scoring chance.
IPFW took a 2-1 lead in the 78th minute as Austin West scored off a free kick.
In the 82nd minute,
Thilo Borgmann got his second yellow card of the match, resulting in a red and the Huskies playing a man down for the remainder of the match. Faletto's shot attempt in the 86th minute sailed high.
Shots were even at five apiece in the second half, as the Huskies had a 10-8 advantage in the match. Each team had three corner kicks in the second half, with IPFW holding a 5-4 advantage in the match. Both Poser and Kotzock made two saves for their respective teams.
HBU (1-2-0) will look to regroup Sunday when it takes on Buffalo (3-0-1) at 4:30 pm. The Bulls battled tournament host UTRGV to a 1-1 double overtime tie in Friday's nightcap.
