THE RUNDOWN
In a tale of two halves, DBU (6-4-6, 2-2-5 LSC) fell to St. Edward's (4-7-4, 3-4-2 LSC) on Saturday night in Austin. In a 4-3 affair, six of the match's seven goals were scored in the second half.
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The two teams entered what appeared to be a stalemate as the last minutes of the first half slipped away, but with just over one minute left, the Patriots worked the ball down the right touchline, as
Josten Watkins sent a low cross into the box, where a sliding
Liam Spiller punched the ball into the net for the first goal of the match.
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St. Edward's wasted little time in the second half to find the equalizer. Clearing the ball to the left side of the field, Shunji Watanabe picked up the ball in the Hilltoppers' attacking third. He drove the ball low into the box before passing above the six-yard line, where Misael Rangel poked the ball into the goal for a 1-1 score in the 48th minute.
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Moments later, the Patriots answered twice. In the 54th,
James Webb drew a yellow card on St. Edward's Easton Jones, setting up a penalty kick for DBU.
Erik Oliveira took the kick for the Patriots, stuttering to disrupt goalkeeper Kaleo Francis' timing before kicking the ball to the right as Francis dove the other direction to give the lead back to DBU.
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After three minutes of action, the Patriots earned a corner kick, taken by
Caleb Centeno. Francis punched his pass away to the top of the box, but
Mark Burrage headed the ball to his right, where
Chase Turcotte turned and fired with his left for his second goal of the season and a 3-1 advantage for DBU.
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The Hilltoppers responded with their own corner kick goal in the 63rd minute, as Bartek Zabek lifted a ball that caught a Patriot defender and deflected into the net to narrow the margin to 3-2.
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St. Edward's answered two more times, once via Bartek Zabek in the 79th minute and a second through Paolo Vela, to claim the 4-3 win, despite playing a man down in the final 20 minutes due to a red card on Easton Jones.
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THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- The Patriots finish the regular season with a 4-2-3 record away from Dallas, the best road record since the program was reinstated in 2012.
- DBU stays among the top six teams in the Lone Star Conference that will advance to the LSC Tournament. The Patriots are tied for fifth with St. Edward's at 11 points.
- Saturday marks only the second time this season DBU has allowed multiple goals defensively.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4 - DBU's unbeaten streak ends at four matches, marking the third time this season the Patriots have logged four straight matches without a loss.
13 -
Liam Spiller's goal in the 44th minute made him the 13th Patriot to score a goal this season.
20 - With 20 shots, DBU launched at least 20 shots in a match for the fifth time this year.
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UP NEXT
The Patriots wrap up the regular season with a home match against Texas A&M International. Kickoff is slated for Wednesday, October 28, at 8:00 p.m.
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