GAME PREVIEW: Men's Soccer vs. George Fox (9/1) | at Howard Payne (9/2)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
(9/1 vs. George Fox)
(9/2) at Howard Payne University)
SOCIAL MEDIA
UD Twitter: @UDallasSports
UD Men's Soccer Twitter: @UDsoccer
UD Facebook: University of Dallas Athletics
UD Instagram: udallasathletics
BACK ON THE PITCH
The University of Dallas men's soccer team opens the 2017 campaign on Friday versus George Fox University with kickoff around 5 p.m. The Crusaders are opening at home for the fifth straight year and have gone 3-1 in the previous four matchups dating to 2013. Dallas has a quick turnaround with its first road match of the year on Saturday at Howard Payne University. Kickoff is slated at 4 p.m.
UD did host University of Texas at Dallas in a scrimmage last Saturday. The result was a 1-1 draw, but the Crusaders did blank the American Southwest Conference (ASC) preseason favorites until under the last five minutes. Oliver Rivers (Horsham West Sussex, England) scored for the home squad on a good cross pass by Eric Haigh (Frisco, Texas) earlier in the second half.
The Crusaders are coming off a 7-9-3 season in 2016 with a 4-8-2 mark in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). Dallas was selected sixth in the SCAC preseason poll.
UD NOTES
- Dallas returns three of the top five scorers from last season.
- Highlighting that trio is Luke Schwarz (Tucson, Ariz.) with six goals and five assists for 17 points. The senior ranks first among returners in each of those categories.
- Chima Ogueri (Garland, Texas) finished third last year in his rookie season with eight points thanks to three goals and two helpers.
- Andrew Ciancone (Houston, Texas) punched a pair of scores and assists for six points.
- As a squad, the Crusaders tallied 29 goals and averaged 1.53 per match. Dallas outscored its foes 13-7 in the first half and were even in the later 45 minutes with 15 on each side.
- Defensively, UD came up with 73 saves and allowed 23 goals (1.16 GaAvg) throughout 1,779:34 minutes. Tino Gamueda surrendered 22 of them and snagged 65 saves with a 74.7 save percentage. He graduated in May and remains on staff as a graduate assistant.
QUOTABLES
"It has been really good actually. I think the standard is really good and we all push each other. There is a lot of competition between everyone and that just makes everyone better. We saw that [in UT-Dallas scrimmage]. They are a good team but we are disappointed we didn't win. We have had a really good preseason and now going into Friday, we are just ready to get the season going." – Rivers on Preseason and Fall Scrimmage last Saturday
"Hard-working. I think the amount of hours we do everyday. We really work hard and that really shows on the pitch. We all work together as well. We are such a tight knit group and everyone wants to work hard that no one wants to let each other down. That translates from coach [Hoffmann] down to everyone…got that mentality of working hard and it is paying off." - Rivers on how he would describe the University of Dallas men's soccer team
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
(George Fox University)
- The Bruins posted a 1-15-3 record overall and 1-11-3 mark in Northwest Conference (NWC).
- George Fox did capture its lone victory in an away match in 2016. Overall the team went 1-9-2 away from the home confines.
- Sean Owens led the team in points (7) and goals (3) last year.
- Daniel Alonzo added five points with a pair of goals.
- Austin Burdick is the lone goalkeeper from a trio that played minutes last year back on the roster. He made 57 saves and was 0-5-2 in nine matches (6 starts). He logged a team-most 753:05 minutes.
- This is the first ever meeting between the programs.
(Howard Payne University)
- The Yellow Jackets host UD for their season-opener
- HPU went 3-9-3 overall in 2016. This included a 1-3-2 record at home.
- The American Southwest Conference (ASC) tabbed Howard Payne 10th in the Preseason Poll.
- Tracer Moore tied a team-high in scoring with four goals. He is the top scorer returning this year and paced the squad with 10 points.
- Tim Murphy added a pair of goals and assist.
- Nicholas Panameno led the goalkeepers in games (11), starts (10), and minutes (881:50) last season. He notched 56 saves against 173 shots faced.
- Dallas holds a 6-4 overall record against the Yellow Jackets. The Crusaders prevailed in the most recent matchup last year in their home opener 5-1.
- A three-goal first half propelled Dallas ahead for good. Hunter Haugland (Bixby, Okla.), Ciancone, Schwarz, and Trae Hampton (Paducah, Ky.) all recorded netters.
- The last meeting between these teams in Brownwood, Texas, was in 2012. Dallas fell 1-0 with the game-deciding goal in the 55th minute.
Howard Payne 2016 Season Stats
UP NEXT
Dallas continues a four-match road trip next weekend with the start of SCAC action. The next 12 contests will be against league opponents. The Crusaders will be at Colorado College on September 8th at 3 p.m. (MST).