CHARLESTON, Illinois --- Houston Christian University dropped a Sunday matinee to Eastern Illinois University 3-1 at Lakeside Field.
The Huskies fell behind after 45 minutes following two EIU goals 20 minutes apart. The Panthers opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Sergej Misic won possession and blasted a shot from the right side of the box across the face of
Harvey Heeps.
A second goal came just short of the intermission when Marcos Ayelo claimed a rebound off the post to double the advantage. EIU would score another in the 71st minute when a corner was clattered home.
HCU finally got on the board in the 80th minute on when
Ryan Okerayi was clipped in the box. He slotted home his shot from the spot to make the count 3-1.
The Huskies got up 14 shots on the day but just two came on target, while the hosts went for 15 attempts, putting eight on point.
Okerayi notched his fourth goal of the season with his penalty kick, the 25th goal of his career at HCU.
Harvey Heeps made five saves.
Misic, Ayelo and Adam Boykin were all credited with scores for EIU, which bounced back from a heartbreaking defeat on Thursday to UIW when the Cardinals scored twice in the final five minutes, including the game-winner with nine seconds left. EIU is now 4-7-3 and 3-3-1 in conference action.
HCU falls to 4-6-4 overall and an even 2-2-2 in OVC play. The four-match road stretch continues on Wednesday as the Huskies will travel back down to the valley for the completion of the October 1 suspended match with UTRGV. The game will resume at 6:30 pm with 23:18 remaining in the first half and the Vaqueros leading 1-0.
#DawgsUp
