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EDINBURG, Texas – On Sunday morning, the HBU men's soccer team came up short in overtime at the UTRGV Invitational, falling to Purdue Fort Wayne, 4-3, after erasing a halftime deficit and leading with just 10 minutes left on the clock.

Purdue Fort Wayne (3-1-0) attempted a pair of shots early that went wide and it was Khalil Thomas for HBU (1-2-1) who put the first shot on target in the 19^th minute but the Mastodons' Tor Larsen made the save. Less than eight minutes later, PFW's Matthew Lieshout placed a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box out of reach of Husky keeper Jorge Cabrera to give the Mastodons a 1-0 lead at the 25:50 mark.

It took less than three minutes for Lieshout to extend the PFW lead, converting a penalty kick in the 29^th minute to make it a two-goal game. That two-goal deficit didn't last long for HBU as sophomore Gianluca Natera netted his third goal of the season off a free kick in the 30^th minute, against putting the Huskies within striking distance of evening the game up. After that flurry of scoring within a five minute stretch, the two teams went into the half with the score 2-1 in PFW's favor.

It didn't take long for Natera to even the score at two a piece at the 47:18 mark with a shot from the left side of the box. In the 53^rd minute, a Natera attempt was stopped by Larsen but Dequan Thomas was there to knock the ball into the net on the rebound and put the Huskies ahead 3-2.
The HBU lead held until the 80:01 mark when a Romain Lopez cross found the heel of Zach Tom and he directed it past Cabrera to even the score at 3-3. With no goals over the final nine-plus minutes, the game headed to overtime.

In the first overtime period, PFW was on the attack early with a pair of corner in the first three minutes and an attempt by Ryan Bernt forcing Cabrera into a save. In the 96^th minute, Dominick Faletto saw a header attempt miss wide left while PFW had a Blake Cearns header miss high just over two minutes later. In the 100^th minute, it was Cearns again putting a shot on goal that Cabrera denied by the rebound went right back to Cearns who knocked it in for the game-winner.

Natera enjoyed a career-day, scoring a pair of goals in a match for the second time in games this season and adding an assist on the Huskies' third goal to have a hand in all three. Natera now has four goals and an assist on the year for nine points, matching the highest point total anyone on the team had all last season. Thomas' goal was his first of the season. In goal, Cabrera finished with four saves and falls to 1-2-0 on the year.

The Huskies return to the friendly confines of Sorrels Field for their next two matches, beginning Friday, Sep. 7, against Oral Roberts at 8:00 p.m. immediately following the women's soccer game against North Texas. Then, HBU welcomes Central Arkansas to Sorrels Field for a 1:00 p.m. kick on Sunday, Sep. 9.