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HOUSTON – HBU built a 2-0 lead until the 73
rd minute when UMKC got on the board but the Husky defense held off the Kangaroos and a last-second goal by
Devon Grant gave the Huskies the 3-1 win in Western Athletic Conference action at Sorrels Field on Thursday night.
UMKC (4-4-3, 2-1-0 WAC) got a quick look at the HBU (4-4-0, 1-2-0 WAC) goal when Eric McWoods put a shot on goal but was turned away by Husky goalkeeper
Harrison Veith. Freshman
Abdullah Mirza took his first shot of the match in the 23
rd minute, giving UMKC's Filippo Errico his first test of the match, making the save.
Things remained locked at 0-0 until an exciting two and a half minutes that included a
Gianluca Natera shot off the post followed by a quick Kangaroo counter and a McWoods shot off the crossbar. Less than two minutes later, McWoods was stopped at close range by Veith and Chris Bellman's shot off the rebound missed just to the right of the post. The Huskies got on the board at the 42:57 mark when a through ball from
Tim Watson found a streaking
Dequan Thomas who broke free and beat Errico to his left from a tough angle, giving HBU a 1-0 lead at the half.
Mirza picked up his first collegiate goal less than a minute and a half into the second half with
Dominick Faletto finding Thomas who dribbled into the box from the left side and slipped a neat pass over to Mirza in front of the goal where he deftly redirected the ball into the net for a 2-0 Husky advantage.
The Roos picked up the pressure as the half wore on, finally breaking through at the 73 minute mark. McWoods worked his way around a defender near the end line before slipping a pass to Loran Lettner in front of the HBU goal where he tapped the shot in to bring UMKC within one. The UMKC pressure continued with Veith making another save in the 85
th minute along with a pair of team saves by the Husky defensive line in the 89
th minute. As the final 10 second countdown was ticking off, Thomas sent a through ball down the field out of the HBU defensive end and found a streaking
Devon Grant who snuck a shot into an open net with one second left on the clock.
"UMKC deserves a lot of credit, they're a really good team," said head coach
Ryan Pratt. "They were better for portions of the game than we were at times tonight, but we stuck together, grinded it out and played with a lot of heart. At the end of the day, that's what got us through tonight."
Thomas had a hand in all three Husky goals, recording one goal and a pair of assists. He now has two goals and two assists for the season. Grant's goal was also his second of the year. Veith made nine saves in earning the win, improving the 3-0-0 in goal.
McWoods led all players with five shots on goal while Pandeli Popgeorgiev had four. UMKC held a 29-10 advantage in shot attempts, including 12-4 in shots on goal.
The Huskies head to the US Air Force Academy, Colo. for their next game, taking on No. 13 Air Force on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 2:00 p.m. CST.
