MACOMB, Illinois --- Houston Christian University secured a huge three points as it took a 3-0 victory over Western Illinois University in a misty matinee at John Mackenzie Alumni Field Thursday afternoon. The Huskies scored just out of the half to break a scoreless deadlock, then put two on the board in the final five minutes to seal the road result.
The two teams played it close to the vest in the first 45 minutes, with WIU holding a 6-3 lead in shots but just one apiece coming on goal. The Huskies then came out aggressively to start the second frame, peppering the posts with four shots in the first seven minutes, the final coming from
Marcos Moore. A fine centering pass from
Andrew Dillett found Moore racing to the box, and his neat toe poke slipped past the keeper to break the ice, giving HCU a one-nil advantage with just over 52 minutes gone.
Western would then hit back putting four shots up over the next few minutes. Xavier Gagnon's attempt was parried away by
Harvey Heeps in the 55th minute. Heeps would come through again in the 69th minute, handling a shot by Jack Schwering to keep the Leathernecks off the board.
In the 86th minute, the Huskies doubled their lead on an own goal. Heeps played a long goal kick down the field where it found
Clarenns Sainrimat racing down the channel. Sainrimat's shot would bounce off the post but then was clipped home by a defender to put HCU up 2-0.
An extra bit of insurance was added just three moments later. Again it was Heeps with a long punt downfield where
Ryan Okerayi won possession and outdueled the defense towards the box. He laid off a nice feed to Aiden Lopez, who slotted home the third goal of the afternoon for the Huskies that finished things off.
The two teams ended up tied in both shots (14) and shots on goal (4), but the Huskies made the most of their attempts in earning a strong bounceback win and much-needed three points after a tough home weekend. The trio of goals put on the scoreboard marked a season-high in a game for the Huskies.
Marcos Moore corralled his third goal of the season to tie
Ryan Okerayi for the team lead. Aiden Lopez put home his second goal of the campaign and led HCU with four shots, two on goal coming off the pine. Okerayi registered his team-best fifth assist of the season, while
Harvey Heeps made four saves in claiming his third clean sheet of the season.
Xavier Gagnon led the Leathernecks (4-7-3 / 2-3-1 OVC) with four shots, while OVC Goalkeeper of the Week Harvey Bolland made two saves on the afternoon.
HCU goes to 4-5-4 overall on the campaign and pushes their OVC mark to 2-1-2 at the halfway point of the conference slate. The Huskies continue their four-match road stretch on Sunday afternoon with the second leg of its stay in the Land of Lincoln as it faces Eastern Illinois University. Kick-off at Lakeside Field is scheduled for 2 pm.
#DawgsUp
