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HOUSTON – On Friday evening, the HBU men's soccer team fell behind 1-0 midway through the first half but responded with two goals in the second half en route to a 2-2 draw with visiting San Jose State on Friday evening at Sorrels Field in a Western Athletic Conference matchup.
For HBU (3-2-3, 1-0-1 WAC), junior
Dominick Faletto put a shot on goal in the fourth minute but it was stopped by San Jose State (3-4-1, 1-0-1 WAC) keeper Alex Clewis.
Thomas Menke put an attempt on target at the 12:41 mark and Faletto had a header stopped in the 19
th minute. In the 20
th minute, SJSU's Max Allen put a shot on target but
Jorge Cabrera made the save with the Spartans' Andy Rios missing wide on the rebound.
At the 23:20 mark, Kal Tolentino-Perry took a cross from Willy Mirande at the top of the 18-yard box and fired a shot to the top left of the goal, beating Cabrera and putting the Spartans ahead 1-0. San Jose State held on and maintained its one-goal lead the rest of the half.
Just over five minutes into the second period the Spartans' Rios just missed with a header attempt off the crossbar. In the 57
th minute, junior
Dequan Thomas dribbled around a defender and made his way in toward the goal on the left side before making a cross to Menke who knocked in the goal to even the score. Less than 20 minutes later, GIanluca Natera put a shot on goal that was stopped by a diving Clewis with the rebound going directly to Faletto who found the open net and gave HBU a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately for the Huskies, less than a minute later a foul in the box set the Spartans' Rios up for a penalty kick which he converted to again even the score.
San Jose State attempted three shots in both overtime periods to HBU's one attempt in the second overtime period. For the match, the Spartans held a 24-to-12 advantage in shots and earned 15 corner kicks to the Huskies' three. In goal, Cabrera recorded eight saves. Menke's goal was his first of the season while Faletto's was his second.
"I don't think we were good enough tonight to get the win," said head coach
Ryan Pratt. "San Jose State is a good team and we just kind of hung in there. We kind of fought and scrapped and clawed, kept our selves alive and got a much needed point against a very good team."
The Huskies will host 19
th-ranked Seattle next with the WAC match scheduled for Sunday, Sep. 30, at Sorrels Field at 2:00 p.m.
