The men’s soccer team wrapped up their fifth American Southwest Conference Championship in school history with a victory over The University of Mary-Hardin Baylor on Sunday.
Photos by Michael Jones
The Patriots won 3-0, earning the team a spot in the NCAA men’s soccer championships.
The game was played at Citizens 1st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex in Tyler.
Senior Victor Almendariz scored two goals, earning the title of Most Valuable Player.
It was the team’s second consecutive championship and their third in four years.
On Oct. 27, the Patriots took on Louisiana College and played their way to 4-0 victory and their ninth shutout of the season.
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They were back at it the following Saturday, but settled for a 1-1 tie thanks to some late-game heroics.
The Patriots have been persistent when it comes to defense throughout the year and they did not let up in the last week of the season.
They allowed one goal in their last two games and only two goals in the final 10 games.
The men started slow in their game Thursday night before Almendariz found the back of the net in the 23rd minute with the assist going to Luis Jaimes to make it 1-0. The score would remain the same to halftime.
The Patriots would get on the board for a second time in the 59th minute when Alberto Munoz assisted Almendariz to his sixth goal of the year to make it 2-0.
Ten minutes later, Jake Urbaniak picked up his eighth goal of the year unassisted to put his team up 3-0.
The men would round out the night with Elijah Shipman assisting Jeremias Benitez for the fourth and final goal of the game.
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The men’s soccer team had less success when they took on Mississippi College on Saturday night. Their defense remained strong but they never seemed to find success on offense.
The two teams endured a physical first half full of knockdowns and changing of possession. The Patriots held Mississippi to no shots on goal in the first half but could not convert on any of their three shots on goal.
The Patriots caught a bad break in the 62nd minute when Mississippi College’s Brian Vasquez took a shot that deflected off of a Patriot defender and into the goal to put the men down 1-0.
The Patriots turned up the intensity from there and finally tied the game with seven minutes left to go when Elijah Shipman took a pass from Jake Urbaniak and found the back of the net to make it 1-1.
Defense took over for both teams from that point on. The game remained scoreless throughout the rest of the second half and the two overtime periods and ended in a 1-1 tie.
“It’s been a very good season,” Coach Kenny Jones said after his team’s final conference game. “We’ve learned some things, we’ve gotten better. Unfortunately, tonight we didn’t finish the way we should have.”
Jake Urbaniak had a goal in Thursday’s game and tallied eight goals on the season while racking up numerous assists. “We’ve had our ups and downs,” Urbaniak said. “We accomplished things we set out to pursue.”
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Almendariz, who scored twice in Thursday’s game, was another bright spot for the Patriots during the regular season.
“I think we’re doing a pretty good job,” Almendariz said. “We just have to finish. If we don’t score, we’re not going to win any game.”
The Patriots finished the regular season at 14-2-1 and 10-1-1 in ASC play.
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