EDINBURG, Texas --- Houston Christian University scored a late equalizer and held on for a crucial road point, earning a hard-fought draw with University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex on Wednesday night in the completion of the suspended match on October 1.
Nearly three weeks after the original kick-off, the two teams resumed action with 23:18 left to play in the first half and the Vaqueros already ahead one-nil on a goal by Elias Taj just over nine minutes into the contest. The hosts missed an opportunity in the 31st minute to double their lead but a penalty kick chance was errant leaving the lead at just one.
UTRGV put another shot on target in the 34th minute that was saved by HCU's
Harvey Heeps. Ten moments later, the Huskies went quick out of a foul and raced upfield, where
Jess Degenaers laid off a pass at the top of the box for a one-timer from
Ricardo Garcia, knotting the game up at one-apiece with just a minute and a half left before intermission.
UTRGV would strike quickly in the second half on a tally from Sammy Jadid at the 51:15 mark of the game. That lead would stand for just over 21 minutes until the Huskies earned a free kick from a short corner position just outside the area on the left hash even with the top of the box.
The entry in got clattered off the head of
Hans Leza and an attempted shot by
Ryan Okerayi landed on the outstretched leg of
Clarenns Sainrimat, who toed home the leveler with 17:19 to play to make the count two-all.
The Huskies got three more solid looks down the stretch, the final from Degenaers, who shot was saved by Conrad Knight just into the 86th minute. HCU warded off two late chances from UTRGV to hold on for the road point.
Ricardo Garcia picked up his first goal of the season for the Huskies and
Clarenns Sainrimat added his second.
Jess Degenaers recorded his second assist of the campaign while
Harvey Heeps made three stops in goal to preserve the tie.
Sammy Jadid led the Vaqueros with the goal and five shots. Elias Taj had the other goal on three shot attempts for the evening, while Conrad Knight made four saves for UTRGV, now 3-5-4 overall and 1-3-3 in the OVC.
HCU moves to 4-6-5 overall and to 2-2-3 in OVC play. The season-long four-match road stretch will conclude on Sunday evening against University of the Incarnate Word in the Alamo City in a game that was moved from Friday evening to accommodate the resumption of this evenings match with UTRGV. The Huskies will be looking to cool down their red-hot arch-rivals, who currently sit in a tie atop the league table. It is the second meeting of the season between the two, as HCU took the conference opener 2-1 at Sorrels Field on September 26.
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