Mountaineers come out with eye of the tiger

The Eastern Oklahoma State College men's soccer team came out strong and took a 2-1 lead into halftime on Thursday night at Cowley County Community College. The Mountaineers held on to the lead through 60 minutes but couldn't tame the Tigers, eventually falling 2-4 to the perennial Top 25 team. 

The Mountaineers dropped to 0-3, 0-0 in the Region II Conference.

PLAY BY PLAY
- Eastern took the lead seven minutes in on a follow up by Christian Fresquez.

- Cowley got on the board in the 40th minute but Eastern responded just 20 seconds later with a goal from Brandon Molina off a through ball from Alpha Diallo.

- Marc-Antoine Huzen again denied an opponent's penalty kick and had eight saves in 60 minutes of action.

- In the 63rd minute, Cowley tied the game then went in front for good 10 minutes later. Cowley added a 4th goal with Eastern chasing the game and resting some players due to injury and a busy early season schedule.

Coach Jon Evan had this to say about his team's performance. 

"For the first time this year we came out and executed a game plan and put together a half we can be proud of, where we can say we earned the right to be ahead in the game. As a matter of fact we played well enough to earn the lead we had through 60 minutes.  Cowley is a terrific team and they deserve credit for the win and their second-half performance. The team felt that they were the most dangerous squad we faced so far," Evan said. "Although we have made significant progress, we're giving some players some planned rest in the second half and can be proud of the 60 minute shift we put in. We are playing to win these games and we have to start putting 90 minutes together. Every man on our roster is capable, has a role to play, and must be prepared when called upon." 

GAME NOTES
- The Mountaineers took 14 shots and put nine on frame.

- Huzen had eight saves in the game.

- Freshman Brandon Molina scored his first career goal on an assist from Alpha Diallo.

Eastern travels to Neosho, MO to take on Crowder Community College on Tuesday, September 4 at 5:00 p.m.