TULSA, Oklahoma – For the second time in a week, Houston Christian University rallied from a two-goal deficit to draw level on the road, this time with a 2-2 draw with Oral Roberts University on Saturday night. After pulling even with University of Nebraska-Omaha earlier in the week, the Huskies closed out their four-match away stretch with another late surge to escape Case Soccer Complex with another hard-earned road result.
After a scoreless first frame, the two sides continued to hold fast for the first 18 minutes of the second. It was then that ORU scored twice within the span of two minutes to take the lead.
Just into the 64th minute, Omar Mora put the Golden Eagles on the board with a strike off an assist by Juan Moreno. A little under two minutes later into the 66th minute, the hosts would earn a penalty kick, that was put away by Luis Flores for a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead.
The Huskies continued to chip away, and in the 73rd minute,
Ethan Giwa-McNeil earned a penalty when he was clipped in the box. He smashed his kick from the spot into the bottom corner to cut the lead in half.
In the 80th minute, the Huskies got a corner kick and after the ball cleared out to the left side,
Hans Leza delivered a clean entry into the right side of the box.
Ricardo Garcia was there for the header to the backside to equalize, and the Huskies would hold on down the stretch for the well-deserved capper to the road trip.
The Huskies outshot the Golden Eagles 10-8 overall, with ORU holding a 5-2 lead on goal. HCU's only two shots on target hit the back of the net, while
Alex Aitken made three saves.
Giwa-McNeil had his team-leading third goal of the year, while Garcia notched his second of the week and season. His goal at Omaha pulled HCU to within one in the 59th minute before
D'Alessandro Herrera tied things up at two.
HCU moves to 1-4-2 on the season while ORU falls to 2-2-3 overall. The Huskies will return home for the first time since August 29 when they host University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday night at Sorrels Field. The 7 pm kick-off on Fondren Road puts in motion a four-game homestand that will both put the wraps on non-conference play and open the Ohio Valley Conference slate.
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