USU Eastern Press Release
Utah State Eastern men’s soccer won and lost against the College of Southern Nevada Coyotes on Friday and Saturday at home.
In the conference opener on Friday, the Eagles needed the full 90 minutes and almost two overtime periods to get the win.
“It was a really good game that back and forth, we came out and possessed the ball very well,” said USU Eastern head coach Ammon Bennett. “We probably could have won the game in regulation if we would have made better passes but we stuck with it and a double overtime win was fantastic.”
After a scoreless first half from both teams, sophomore Frank DeBry put the ball in the back of the net after an assist from Mat Clark. The first half goal on Friday was DeBry’s seventh of the season, which leads the team and is good for eighth in the country.
Southern Nevada’s Bruno Aleman scored the equalizer in the 78′ minute to put the game at 1-1. The Eagles and Coyotes went into overtime and battled back and forth to force a second overtime.
“It was a pretty tough game. Most of the game, we played a defensive game and we were countering. It paid off in the end when we got the 2-1 win,” said USU Eastern sophomore Garrett Boston.
In the 102′ minute of the game, USU Eastern’s Guillermo Hernandez scored the game winning goal and take down the Coyotes.
“We had a set piece and the ball goes in and it gets popped out and you can see him running on then he hits a rocket from 18 yards out. I don’t think the ball ever went three or four inches off the ground,” said Bennett.
With a tough and tiring win on Friday in their back pocket, both teams came into Saturday’s a little hobbled and worn out.
“It was mentally challenging and it took a lot of time to calm down a little bit,” said Boston.
CSN took advantage of the situation and played very aggressive in the first part of the game.
“They came out in the first half extremely aggressive. We were tired and we have four or five guys who are normal starters that are hurt. We were just hoping to get through the first half and weather the storm,” said Bennett.
The storm of CSN came loud and clear in the first 15 minutes of the game as Maliq Cooper put two goals in for the Coyotes. Just before halftime, the Eagles put a goal of their own off the foot of freshman Blake Howden, who got the assist from Brevan Randall.
Neither team would find the back of the net in the second half as the game got more physical and six total yellow cards were administered between the two teams.
On defense, the Eagles held the Coyotes to only two goals on 21 shots and keeper Israel Davila Aleman had two saves.
“We battled with them, but overall being tired and hurt really slowed us up. Hats off to CSN. They are really good and quality team. They came out and challenged us,” said Bennett.
Saturday’s first loss of the season makes their overall record 4-1 overall and 1-1 in conference.
The Eagles will travel this upcoming weekend to Salt Lake City to take on a nationally ranked Salt Lake Community College squad on Friday and Saturday.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
