THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Men's Soccer team hosted Lubbock Christian University at Patriot Field on Tuesday, March 30th and put in one of the performances of the season. DBU would come out on the night with a 3-2 win over the LSC foe through a gritty battle.

On a beautiful night in Dallas, the Patriots came out from the very first whistle looking to make a statement. DBU would see the better of the chances in the first half with their wingers in Koli McCullough and Emmanuel Loni being very active on the outside. DBU would concede first in the game but would respond excellently. Emmanuel Loni would find the ball on the right wing and take his defender one-on-one, Loni would beat his man with a combination of beautiful stepovers and lay the ball off to Jide Adesanya who would perfectly place the ball into the far corner to tie the game up at 1-1 in the 42nd minute of the match, a score that DBU would take into the break.

The Patriots would come out in the second half and look to pick up right where they left off. Chip Dutchik's side was tactically sound for the entire game and very organized defensively. Their compact shape along the backline and their communication in the midfield allowed DBU to stay organized with they were in defense, something that would allow them to win the ball back in good areas of the field and go out the LCU defense. In the 52nd minute of the match, Emmanuel Loni would find the ball in a dangerous area of the field and look to spark the counterattack. Loni would slide the ball through to Mason Wallak and then continue his own run, receive the ball from Wallak in the box and lay it back off to Mason who would slot the ball perfectly into the far post for one of the most beautiful goals of the year to tie the game up at 2-2.

As the game went on, the Patriots would dig deep and gut out a tremendous performance. Limited in subs due to injuries, and with multiple players on the field picking up knocks and playing through it, the Patriots would stay strong defensively and dangerous on the offense. Emmanuel Loni would contribute to a goal for the third time on the night, this time finding the back of the net himself. Loni would get on the end of a corner from Carlos Lara to score his 2nd goal of the year and push the Patriots into the 3-2 lead.

Overall, DBU would piece together one of the best performances in program history. The Patriots put together a complete match on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball and came together to earn a hard win on University Hill.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
  - The defense for the Patriots was incredibly organized today. Anchored by the center back duo in Payton Franklin and Brock Bennison, the backline for DBU played aggressive tonight. Sergio Garrido and Bruno Correa were very solid on the wings and limited the wingers from LCU to very minimal space and time on the ball.
 
 - This team is gritty. With limited personnel due to injuries and with players on the field picking up their own knocks, this team gutted it out and played for each other. The midfielders in Matthew Hayes, Carlos Lara, Mason Wallak, and Koli McCullough all put in a tremendous box-to-box shift and flew around.
 
 - Jide Adesanya was a force to be reckoned with tonight. Going toe-to-toe with the reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Year in Lubbock Christian's Ivan Bengono, Adesanya found the back of the net and created multiple good-looking opportunities for his side. Adesanya flew around all night and played significant minutes with a slight knock of his own.
 
COACH CHIP DUTCHIK ON THE PATRIOTS PERFORMANCE
"Very proud of these boys. They came out and were tactically sound for the whole game and played our way. All night the guys gutted it out and played with a tremendous amount of heart. They absolutely deserve this win. Incredibly proud of the performance we had tonight."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
25 – No. 25 for the Patriots, Emmanuel Loni, had his best game of his DBU career this evening. Loni came into the game off of the bench and changed the outcome. The junior from Rwanda had two assists and a goal of his own.

2 – This is the second time this season that the Patriots have found the back of the net three times from three different goal scorers. This team certainly has weapons with solid chemistry amongst each other going forward.

0 – DBU's No. 0 continues to step up and find his footing in between the sticks for the Patriots. Kyle Renton made several saves on the night with one sequence being the best of his young career. Renton blocked two point blank saves back to back off of a dangerous cross from LCU to keep the ball from finding his net and to ultimately help the Patriots to the win.

UP NEXT
DBU takes another road trip down to San Antonio to face off with a No. 16 nationally ranked St. Mary's side on Friday, April 2nd. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.