Dallas Men Victorious in Final Home Game

Already recognized last Sunday at Senior Day, Matt Stamper (Bentonville, AR/Bentonville H.S.), Mike McIlhon (San Diego, CA/St. Augustine H.S.), Aaron Tucker (Keller, TX/Birdville H.S.), Rafael Hernandez (Dallas, TX/Jesuit College Prep), and Thomas Whisenhunt still took today’s home game against Howard Payne University very seriously, as it was the last of their UD careers. Today they were not disappointed, and were able to end their tenures in much of the same manner that they began them…with a victory. The senior class was one of the most successful in school history, and today’s 3-0 victory over Howard Payne University added one more win to an already impressive tally.

What started as a tight defensive match quickly turned into an offensive showcase late in the first half as the Crusaders scored twice in under a ten minute span. At the 37 minute mark, Matt Stamper assisted sophomore midfielder Michael Chapman (Madison, MS/St. Joseph Catholic School H.S.) for the first goal of the game. Nine minutes later, UD essentially put the game away when junior midfielder Phil Conley (Palatine, IL/Palatine H.S.) scored another Crusader goal and UD went into the break with a two score lead. The assists on Conley’s goal were credited to Ryan Meske (Niwot, CO/Niwot H.S.) and Mike McIlhon. The final Crusader goal came in the 73rd minute of the game when Meske scored off of freshman midfielder Paul Hull’s (Long Beach, MS/St. Stanislaus H.S.) assist.

The win improved their record to 5-7-3 with one regular season game to play. On Saturday, October 31 UD travels to southern Texas to take on Our Lady of the Lake University at 3:00pm in San Antonio. After the instate matchup the Crusaders head north for the North Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament and a chance at the NCAA playoffs.