EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Houston Christian University picked up its first road victory of the season with a 2-0 shutout of University of Southern Indiana on Thursday night at Strassweg Field. The Huskies put together another strong defensive effort in moving back to .500 on the season and securing their third positive result of the conference slate.
The Huskies were aggressive offensively from the outset, putting two shots on goal in the first six minutes before the breakthrough in the 28th minute.
Thomas Wyke fed
Rio Pemberton with a soft touch up the right side of the box, but his shot was blocked by USI keeper Andrew Klott. Klott was unable to corral the loose ball and
D'Alessandro Herrera picked up the loose change and blasted the rebound off of Klott's leg for the one-nil lead.
That lead would remain through the intermission, and the Huskies would control the tempo on both ends of the pitch for the next 30-plus minutes. It was then that insurance came in the form of
Ethan Giwa-McNeil, who took a ball from the left side on his right foot for a screamer to the top left corner of the woodwork that put the visitors up by a pair. The goal came off a lovely over-the-top feed from
Ryan Okerayi and was Giwa-McNeil's team-high fifth tally of the season.
The hosts would put some chances together down the stretch, each met by the paws of
Alex Aitken, including a brilliant poke away of Ahiro Nakamae's blast in the final seconds that preserved the clean sheet. Aitken was strong once again in between the posts, making seven saves on the night while picking up a third shutout in his last five.
HCU and USI would end up tied in shots taken and the Screaming Eagles closed with one more shot on goal after their late flurry. The two teams were even on corners at four apiece.
Herrera led the offense with four shots, two on goal and his second score of the season. Pemberton had three shots and two on target and became the 10th HCU player to garner an assist, as he picked up his career helper on the Herrera goal. Giwa-McNeil took over the team lead in goals with his fifth, while
Ryan Okerayi took the team lead in assists with his fourth of the campaign.
Brock Martindale had two shots, both on goal, to lead the losing effort for Southern Indiana, now 2-10 overall and 1-3 in OVC play. Andrew Klott made four saves for the Eagles.
The Huskies climb back to even on the season at 5-5-2 overall, and improve to 3-1-0 in the OVC. HCU remains tied for second in the league, now with Liberty who fell 1-0 at Western Illinois on Thursday. SIUE stayed top of the table by virtue of their 2-0 win over Lindenwood, while UIW claimed a 4-1 victory at Eastern Illinois.
HCU will now head to Charleston, Illinois for a Sunday matinee at Eastern Illinois. That match takes the Huskies to the midway point of the Ohio Valley Conference schedule.
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