Crusaders Cruise Past Howard Payne University to Open Season
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's soccer team rolled past Howard Payne University on Friday evening on a wet and soggy field in Irving. The Crusaders (1-0) have now started the season with an opening win for the fourth-straight season. Dallas scored five unanswered goals in the opening half. Chase Reynolds (Southlake, Texas) converted a penalty kick to start the scoring spree for Dallas just seven minutes into the game. Reynolds went on to find the back of the net again towards the end of the first half to lead UD in that category.
Reynolds scored the first goal of the 2019 season after a foul in the box led to a successful Penalty Kick (PK) just seven minutes into the contest. At the 14:43 mark Chima Ogueri (Garland, Texas) found the back of the net after a perfectly placed free kick from Nat Kajiwara (Southlake, Texas) found Ogueri's head to beat the keeper. Five minutes later, Kajiwara scored his first goal on the season from an assist by Hunter Haugland (Bixby, Okla.) to put Dallas up 3-0. HPU started to attack in the third-half of the field as they were able to strike multiple balls on frame. Caleb Strange (Argyle, Texas) was able to stop everything to this point to keep the clean sheet for Dallas heading into the final minutes of the first period.
Reynolds got a nice dish from Haugland at the 39:44 mark to push across his second goal of the game. UD was not done yet. Carlos Trevino (Southlake, Texas) scored his first collegiate goal with just 15 seconds left in the half after a nice strike beat the keeper right. UD went into halftime up 5-0.
HPU came out firing shots to open the second half. Strange was able to boggle up the first few. HPU then was able to get on the board 11 minutes into the second when half Khaled Ameen broke free and beat the Dallas keeper. UD and HPU each exchanged shots down the stretch but the goalkeepers were able to shut down the attempts. Several newcomers and returners gathered playing time in the second half for Dallas to help create an all-around team win for Dallas to open the season.
Dallas outshot HPU 19-14 as the Crusaders were able to put 11 on frame. Kajiwara led Dallas with five shots taken. Haugland converted two assists today to lead UD in that category. Both goalies made six saves on the evening. Strange played all 90 minutes in goal for the Crusaders and picked up his third career win at the keeper spot. The Yellow Jackets were called for 15 fouls, while Dallas just had eight.
SOCIAL MEDIA
#UDCRUSADERS WIN! Explosive 1st Half carries men's soccer to season-opening victory! #WeAreUD #d3soc #UDallas pic.twitter.com/stTsZp5KWT
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) August 31, 2019
UP NEXT
Dallas will continue its home stretch by hosting University of Wisconsin-Superior on Sunday (Sept. 1).