Men's Soccer Defeat LeTourneau in Tense Season Opener

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's soccer team won their season opener versus LeTourneau University 2-1 on Thursday evening.  

For 90 minutes, you could hardly separate the two sides; it was a tight, bitterly fought contest that went down to the wire.  The Crusaders had the better of the chances in the first half and would get their reward 16 minutes in, as Aidan Cady opened the scoring after a ball sent into the box by Ben Utz.  

Dallas took the 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Yellow Jackets leveled things up less than three minutes into the second half after an unfortunate error by the Crusaders' goalkeeper, Anthony Gonzalez, handed LeTourneau the ball inside the 18 yard box.  It was the only blemish on what was otherwise a stellar performance by the man between the sticks, as he took command of his box and came up with a trio of top drawer saves to keep his side in the game.

Twenty minutes later, Utz would be involved in Dallas' second goal of the night, this time on the scoring end as he headed home a beautiful cross to the back post from Matt Villareal to give the Crusaders the advantage.  It would be the final goal of the night, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying.  LeTourneau were on the front foot for much of the second half and recorded a staggering seven corner kicks in the period.  But the Dallas defense stood firm and held on for the win.

Up Next

The Crusaders are back in action this Saturday, as they hit the road to face East Texas Baptist.  Kick-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.