AC 1 - University of Dallas 2

The team had been looking forward to getting on the field for the first time and were excited about starting off the season. As a side note, seniors Alex Dawson (Spring, TX) and Mike Cline (Garland, TX) were selected by the team to be this years captains.

UD has always been a rival of ours, they are a quality team that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year. The boys came out sharp and looked like the better team in terms of technical ability, fitness, and work ethic. UD had an opportunity to take the lead early when one of their players beat our defender, but Grant Gosselin (Phoenix, AZ) made a fantastic save to keep us level. Jason Replogle (Denton, TX) and Chris Stein (Allen, TX) both had good games controlling the midfield. We put UD on their heals early by controlling possesion and getting good runs from our forwards and midfielders. Freshmen Edwin Cole (El Paso, TX) and Andy Johnson (Tulsa, OK) came on in the first half and did a very good job as well. 14 minutes in we would get our reward. Alex Dawson would receive a ball from Mike Cline just outside the 18 yard box and took a shot that found its way through the keepers hands into the back on the net to put us up 1-0. It wasn't the prettiest goal, but we've preached to the guys that you have to shot to score and this was an prime example. We would go into halftime with that lead.

During our halftime talk we stressed to the team how important it was for us to come out sharp. We knew that UD was going to come out very hard and we needed to make their intensity and then raise it one level further.

At the start of the second half, UD put all the pressure on us. They were the ones controlling the game, and we couldn't gain our composure back and settle down. Even though we didn't play very well in the second half, we created several good chances to increase our lead. Freshmen Guillermo Allande (El Paso, TX) and Lincoln Kendall (Houston, TX) combined to create a great chance early in the second half. However, with roughly 20 minutes to go, UD would equalize off a corner. Once UD got even with us they continued to out work us and would get another to make the score 2-1 with about 10 minutes to play. Ironically, those last 10 minutes were probably the best we played all game. We played with a sense of urgency and had a few chances to even the score, but the boys fell short so the game would end 2-1 in favor of Dallas.

Despite the loss, we saw some very encouraging things from the team. It hurts to lose a game, especially in that way; so the boys plan on using this game as motivation to never have to have this feeling again. Thanks to everyone who came out to the game. The team really appreciates all the support that you bring. We play LeTourneau this upcoming Saturday at 2p.m. so please come out again and support the team as we look forward to getting our first win of the season! GO ROOS!

Thanks,
Matt Dickinson