HOUSTON – Houston Christian University broke open a tight game at the half with three second-half goals en route to a 4-0 rout of University of Pacific at Sorrels Field on Sunday evening. The Huskies got scores from four different players and a clean sheet from Alex Aitken in the delayed season opener.
 
The Huskies took a better part of the first half to settle in before opening its account in the 37^th minute. Anis Harrar hit Joby Reid who nicked a soft touch to a cutting D'Alessandro Herrera. The senior got on his left foot just outside the area, lacing a missile to the right of the net for a 1-0 lead.
 
HCU then opened things up not long into the second frame. Again it was Reid with an assist, this time dropping off a pass to Ricardo Garcia, who had a go from long range straightaway that found the top of the net for a two-nil advantage.
 
Another 15 minutes passed with HCU still looking for more. In the 75th minute, a long lead pass by Ben Calder hit Ron Pressler who then tapped a quick pass to Ryan Okerayi springing to open field. The junior would slot home his first of the season to give the Huskies a comfortable 3-0 margin.
 
One more found its way to the scoreboard in the 81st minute, as Ron Pressler took a long pass on the left side from Nico Kross in the defensive end, got back into the middle of the field and launched a right-footed screamer for the fourth goal of the evening.
 
The four goals in the opener were the most in a season opener since scoring a handful in a 5-1 win over Oral Roberts in 2012. It was the first time to have four different goal scorers since a 4-1 win over Eastern Illinois in 2023.

Okerayi led the offensive fireworks with four of HCU's 15 total shots on the evening and he along with Herrera found the back of the net for the 13th time in their respective careers. Joby Reid had two assists in his debut for the club, one of six total helpers on the evening for the Huskies.
 
Alex Aitken moved closer to the top of the career leaderboard for shutouts, posting his 13th career clean sheet while making four saves. Nico Kross and Anis Harrar aided Aitken with solid 90-minute outings on the defensive side.
 
Pacific (1-1) had seven shots, just four on goal on the evening. Mateus Ruiz-Hurst had five saves.
 
The Huskies is now 1-0 on the season and will continue its homestand on Thursday evening, when they play at 7:30 pm against UMass-Lowell in the second half of a double-header with the women at Sorrels Field. The ladies will face College of Charleston at 5 pm.
 
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