THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Men's Soccer team opened up the 2021 season on Tuesday night at Patriot Field. The Patriots fell to UTPB 3-2 in a tough game that came all the way down to the wire.

UTPB would open the scoring in the 15th minute of the game off of a second ball that was bounding around in the box. DBU would respond 10 minutes later when midyear transfer Alan Acuna got the first goal of his short career with one of the most well struck freekicks that has ever occurred on Patriot Field. Acuna beat the goalkeeper to the near post after his free kick went up and over the wall and dipped down under the cross bar to time the game up at 1-1 in the 25th minute.

UTPB would go into the half with a 2-1 lead off of a goal in the 36th minute of play. The Patriots would then respond just six minutes into the second half when Jide Adesanya would find the back of the net for his first DBU career goal. Adesanya's pressure along the backline of UTPB and his tenacity in his effort would see the ball cross the end line to tie the game up at 2-2. UTPB would then find the net in the 80th minute of the match and see the game out from there.

Although the Patriots fell tonight, there is a renewed energy in this DBU side and a fire in them to perform at the highest level. The style of play that DBU came out with was one that was fun to watch and saw them create multiple good chances on the night. Players all over the field were flying around and getting stuck into solid challenges. One of the biggest things that stuck out on this Patriots side was the chemistry and communication that they had. The 11 that Chip Dutchik had out on the field at any given time look to be in sync with each other and ran their system really well all night.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
  - Alan Acuna is looking to make an immediate impact during his short tie on University Hill. After arriving in January, Acuna seems to have fit in nicely with this DBU side and put in an excellent shift on the wing tonight, driving at his defenders and creating several chances throughout the match as well as burying a beautiful freekick.
 
 - Jide Adesanya put in a strong performance in his first game back from a season ending injury his freshman year. Adesanya was absolutely electric upfront for the Patriots and did an excellent job of pressing the backline of UTPB and getting himself into dangerous situations. Adesanya was arguably the biggest threat up front for DBU.
 
 - This DBU side looks to have much more depth upfront than they have had in years past. Emmanuel Loni, Marco Casulli, Ethan Carbajal, Alex Bustamante, Alan Acuna, and Jide Adesanya all saw time up top for the Patriots and all put in solid shifts and presented attacking threats for DBU.
 
COACH CHIP DUTCHIK ON THE PATRIOTS PERFORMANCE
"It was a good hard-fought game. I thought that tactically we played well, it was just a few simple mistakes that cost us the game. I'm proud of our guys and the effort they put in."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2 – Two goals are the most the Patriots have scored in the opening game of the season since the 2014 campaign when DBU topped Harding 2-1. Once again, this offense looks to set itself apart from DBU offenses of years past.

8 – Eight new players saw action for the Patriots tonight who either were not on the team last year or did not see minutes in the 2019 season. Between these eight, 4 are transfers and 3 are freshman.

14 – DBU No.14 Alex Bustamante put in a good shift on the outside for the Patriots. Bustamante was very active both offensively and defensively for DBU, sticking in multiple hard challenges as well as creating and getting into dangerous areas.

UP NEXT
DBU will travel west to Canyon, Texas to take on West Texas A&M. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m.