HOUSTON – Houston Christian University opened its 2026 campaign with a tough 2-0 defeat to Jacksonville University on Thursday night at Sorrels Field. A scoreless tie at the half was broken by a penalty kick early in the second session of a feisty and physical matchup on Fondren Road.
Each team got of three shots during a very well-paced opening 45 minutes. A shot by
Santiago Maynez in the sixth minute was saved as the Huskies best chance at scoring, while
Harvey Heeps made two saves to push the two teams to the intermission at nil-nil.
In the second half, the Dolphins came out quickly, pushing the tempo looking for the breakthrough. That tally would come just into the 53rd minute when a tussle near the top of the box was ruled a penalty on HCU, sending Matias Tobon to the spot. He calmly put his kick to the back of the net to give the visitors their opening goal of the season.
The Huskies nearly equalized in the 70th minute when
Noah Fernandes strike from just left of the box to the far post was snagged by JU's Simen Havig. Six minutes later,
Ryan Okerayi put a blast onto the left corner that was just knocked away by Havig to preserve the one-goal advantage.
As the clock hit 81 minutes, the Dolphins got out on a break. Dante Wright took a ball up from the left channel and slithered a pass through the defense to an awaiting Mathias Mjaavatn near the top of the box. His shot screamed past a diving Heeps to give Jacksonville a two-goal margin.
Okerayi led the Huskies with three shots, one on goal, while Fernandes had two shots on goal. HCU had 10 shots total with four on goal, but the Dolphins were just a tad more efficient, placing four of their six total shots on target.
Harvey Heeps had two saves in his HCU debut in the pipes.
Tobon, JU's leading returning scorer, opened his account with a shot and goal in 62 minutes. Havig made four saves to the Dolphins, who go to 1-0 on the season.
The Huskies (0-1) will return to action on Sunday night as they continue their three-match season-opening homestand. HCU will face UMass Lowell, who earned a draw in its season opener, a 1-1 affair with Incarnate Word in San Antonio on Thursday night. Kick-off on Sunday is set for 7 pm at Sorrels Field.
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