LYNCHBURG, Va. – Houston Christian University earned a tough point after fighting to a fiercely contested scoreless draw with Liberty University on Halloween evening at Osborne Field. The 0-0 tie allows the Huskies to remain in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with one match left to be played in the regular season.
The two teams spent the better part of the first half trading blows, but neither team would give an inch. Each team got a couple of solid looks, but could not put anything on frame. The closest attempt came in the 14th minute as
Ryan Okerayi picked up a loose ball off Liberty keeper Owen Moore's mitts and launched a ball into the side of the post and out of play.
In the second half, the two teams kept the pressure up in a game that continued to look as if one big break would be the difference. OVC leading scorer Michael Huss put a shot on target in the 63rd minute that was easily handled by HCU keeper
Alex Aitken, and Moore returned the favor four minutes later on a shot by
Ethan Giwa-McNeil. In the 79th minute, HCU earned a free kick just outside the 18-yard box, but
Ricardo Garcia's initial shot was blocked by the wall and his second effort on the rebound got clattered around in traffic before begin gobbled up by Moore.
The clubs didn't stop looking for the go-ahead even into a frenetic final 10 minutes. A corner in the 81st minute to Liberty saw a strong entry that found Carlos Trott, but his shot clanged off the top of the woodwork. HCU would get their final best attempt three moments later when
D'Alessandro Herrera's left-footed shot was jabbed aside by Moore.
The Huskies were blanked for the second game in a row and the fifth time this season. HCU however picked up its third straight shutout and sixth in nine conference matches. The clean sheet was the seventh overall this season for
Alex Aitken, who had two saves in the match. The second straight nil-nil was the 11th shutout of Aitken's career, moving into a tie with Christopher Dodd for second all-time at HCU.
HCU outshot Liberty (7-6-2, 5-3-1 OVC) 11-10 on the evening, with the Flames having a 3-2 advantage on goal. Both teams put together aggressive offensive efforts that were overshadowed by magnificent defensive displays. LU falls into fourth place in the league standings with an important finale against fifth-place Incarnate Word on Sunday.
Houston Christian University goes to 7-5-5 overall on the season and 5-1-3 in league play, and now sit one point ahead of Lindenwood and two ahead of Liberty. The Huskies control their own destiny on Sunday as they will be playing for the second of the two first-round byes when they head to Macomb, Illinois to face off with Western Illinois.
SIUE captured both the regular-season title and a first-round bye on Thursday night, rallying for two second-half scores to defeat upset-minded Southern Indiana 2-1 in Evansville. Lindenwood moved past Liberty into second place with a 2-0 win at Eastern Illinois while UIW clinched a playoff spot with a 2-0 win over WIU.
Lindenwood will take on Southern Indiana at home in St. Charles, Missouri on Sunday, while SIUE plays at EIU and UIW is at Liberty. Five of the six playoff berths have been claimed heading into the final day.
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