Eastern Nipped in O.T. at NEO

The Mountaineers lost a hard fought game on the road at NEO on Sunday night. NEO took advantage of a deflection off the foot of sophomore defender Dani Huerta to steal 3 points from Eastern on an own goal just 2 minutes into overtime.  Despite the disappointing finish Eastern played hard, starting the game off on the front foot with a nice early combination down the left side that resulted in a goal from freshman left back Grady Verner just 4 minutes into the contest.  Eastern then battled back from a penalty kick awarded to NEO and a 2-1 deficit on the road.  In the 74th minute Eastern was able to tie the score at 2 apiece on a goal by Huerta off a delivery from Jose Ruarte.  The action was then end to end with Eastern unable to capitalize on several missed chances in the box prior to the deflection in overtime that gave the points to NEO.

The Mountaineers dropped to 4-6-1, 1-5-1 in Region II play.

PLAY BY PLAY

- Eastern jumped out to an early lead four minutes into the game

- Eastern went down 2-1 on a penalty kick for NEO.

- In the 74th minute Eastern battled back to tie the score at 2-2

- 2 minutes into overtime NEO wins on an own goal charged to Eastern.

Coach E remarked:

"This one is surely disappointing but we have to give credit to Coach Parrigon's squad.  They are well coached and they play hard for 90 minutes.  We  played well enough to win and at times we were really good going forward.  We were even disciplined with our shape defensively much of the night.  Unfortunately there is a lot more that goes into playing a complete game." Evan said. "We are still looking to play a complete game for 90 minutes.  We struggled and they made us pay in transition if we are really honest with ourselves.  Despite the disappointment about the finish I told our guys that we are close.  We need to concentrate for the full match, take a look at the video and see where we can improve versus the counter attack in transition.  We will control what we can control and put in a good week of work and improve in that area in preparation for our next opponent, Rose State."

GAME NOTES

- The Mountaineers took 14 shots and placed 8 on target.

- Verner scored his 2nd goal in an Eastern Uniform.

- Dias Neto had 9 saves in net for Eastern.

Eastern is back at home to host Rose State on Thursday, Oct. 17th at 5:00 p.m.