EVANSVILLE, Indiana – Houston Christian University was stunned by three first half goals and never recovered, falling to University of Southern Indiana 4-1 at Strassweg Field on Thursday night.
 
The Screaming Eagles broke through in the 20^th minute as an errant HCU pass in the back third was picked off by Tony Murphy who fed Evan Cvorovic 10 yards in front of the goal for the score and a 1-0 lead.
 
The margin doubled not four minutes later, as a Will Kirchhofer led a ball to Ahiro Nakamae down the left side, and his cross into the box found Murphy in nearly the same spot for a left-footed blast past Alex Aitken and a 2-0 lead for the hosts.
 
USI would push the lead to three just over three minutes before the intermission. Gian Colassaco won a ball deep in HCU territory and his shot was blocked by Aitken. Nolan Stevens got the rebound just outside the 18-yard box and his left footed chip found the back of the net for a 3-0 advantage heading to the break.
 
The Eagles would add a fourth goal in the 65^th minute as Juan Pablo took a pass off a corner and chipped in a shot to the left side.
 
HCU would get on the board in the 71^st minute. A cross into the box was clattered around and found the feet of Ryan Okerayi. His shot was blocked but trickled to Joby Reid who cranked in the rebound to break the ice for the Huskies.
 
The Huskies put up 24 shots, with 10 on target and had 10 corner chances to just four for the hosts. The Eagles (2-7-0, 1-1-0 OVC) took just 10 shots but six were on target with four finding the back of the net in their best offensive showing of the season.
 
Joby Reid had his second goal of the season while Ryan Okerayi chipped in his first helper of the campaign.
 
HCU is now 5-3-1 overall and 0-1-1 in OVC play. The Huskies will complete the five-match road stretch when they travel to Lynchburg, Virginia to take on Liberty University on Sunday evening. 
 
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