THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Men's Soccer team put in a dominate performance Tuesday night on Patriot Field to beat Oklahoma Christian by a score of 3-1.

On an absolutely gorgeous night on University Hill, the Patriots matched the beautiful night with their own beauty on the field. Right from the first whistle, DBU controlled ever aspect of the game. The Patriots were incredibly solid on the ball, organized defensively, and quick and decisive in their attack. DBU would find the back of the net in the 23rd minute of the match when Carlos Lara whipped in a perfectly placed corner kick with his left foot that beat the OCU goalie and bounced off of an Eagle defender and into the back of the net to put the Patriots up 1-0.
 
It was obvious that the Patriots were looking to bounce back in a big way tonight and they proved that by the way they responded to their first goal. DBU would not take their foot off of the break and would continue to hound the backline of OCU. In the 27th minute of the match, Jide Adesanya would slide Mason Wallak in with an excellent pass, Wallak would collect the ball, set himself up on his right foot and curl a ball perfectly into the side netting of the far post to add a second to the scoreboard for DBU.

All throughout the first half, DBU would earn set piece after set piece. Christian Naizer had an excellent look on frame from a freekick about 25 yards out, Nazier would beat the wall and force Anthony Trabichet into a tough save to keep the ball out of the net. Nazier would continue to contribute from set pieces when his corner kick in the 36th minute of the match would find the head of Emmanuel Loni and end up in the back of the net, giving the Patriots a 3-0 advantage into the break.

DBU would continue the second half right where they left off in the first, maintain solid possession of the ball and staying incredibly organized when they were in defense. Koli McCullough, Carlos Lara, Mason Wallak, and Matthew Hayes all rotated in the middle of the park for the Patriots and did a good job staying composed and pinging the ball around the field. Up top, the Patriots continue to have a strong showing. Alan Acuna, Emmanuel Loni, Jide Adesanya, and Alex Bustamante all did well upfront. Any front three that Chip Dutchik had up top for the Patriots at a given time did a solid job of combining between each other, creating chances, and opening up space for their attacking partners.

Although the Patriots fell in their first two games, the defense for DBU has looked solid all year long and they looked that way again tonight, putting in their best performance of the young season. Payton Franklin continues to step up as the voice of that backline and needs to do so even more now without his fellow captain and center back partner in Jonathan Leach who was out due to injury. Brock Bennison played a solid game and paired up well with Franklin, the two did a wonderful job of putting in strong challenges and staying on the backs of the OCU forwards. Between the outside backs that saw action in Ethan Carbajal, Christian Nazier, and Sergio Garrido, all three looked comfortable and were dangerous going forward and always were strong in their one-on-one battles on the wing. Freshman goalie Kyle Renton had another strong outing and made multiple saves for DBU.

Overall, the Patriots put in a complete performance and played the way they wanted to play for the whole 90 minutes of the match to see out the win with a final score line of 3-1.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
  - This Patriot team has solidified what their style of play is going to be this year and for the foreseeable future. DBU has been more composed on the ball and committed to being possession oriented. They have done a solid job building the play up the field and looking for solid opportunities in and around the box.
 
 - The midfield for DBU continues to stand out on the field. The main trio of Mason Wallak, Koli McCullough, and Carlos Lara have developed a chemistry and understanding of each other that allows them to work well together. All three are good on the ball and can help their teammates get into dangerous positions on the field. Although he is nursing an injury, Matthew Hayes has been able to see some time in the middle of the park and brings a strong defensive presence into the side that allows his partners more freedom to create.
 
 - Although they are composed on the ball when in possession, when they are out of possession this side is aggressive. They are constantly putting in strong challenges all over the field and competing for 50/50 balls. This team is physical and has a chip on their shoulder, they do not back out of tackles.
 
COACH CHIP DUTCHIK ON THE PATRIOTS WIN
"The boys put in a really strong shift today. We played the way that we want to play for the full 90 minutes, controlled the ball for a good chunk of the game, pinged the ball around all over the field, and put away our chances. I was really pleased with the mentality we had today and am proud of our guys."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 – Two Patriots got the first goal of their career tonight in Mason Wallak and Emmanuel Loni. While Carlos Lara's goal will technically go down as an own-goal, the freshman deserves a shout out in this section.

8 – The Patriots had eight shots on goal tonight and forced the OCU keeper into multiple tough saves. The thing that is impressive about this stat that is not on the box score, is the fact that there was a handful of different attackers that were getting shots on frame. This DBU offensive is versatile.

270 – Sophomore Payton Franklin is now the only player on the roster to play in all 270 minutes this season. Franklin has solidified himself as one of the prominent leaders on this team.

UP NEXT
DBU continues their home stand when they host Texas A&M – International on Friday, March 19th at Patriot Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.