SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 20, 2012) – Domenico DeGrazia had a hand in both Oklahoma Christian goals and Tim Spencer – with an assist from Sam Guernsey – posted a shutout in goal, leading the Eagles past St. Mary's (Texas) 2-0 on Thursday afternoon at Northside Independent School District Field.
OC (3-2) won its third straight game, with the last two – against Newman (Kan.) and St. Mary's – coming on the road against Heartland Conference foes. The three-game win streak is the longest for OC since October 2010. The Eagles hadn't won consecutive road games since beating Tabor (Kan.) and Oklahoma City University in 2009.
About the only negative for the Eagles was that the game's referee, Ricardo Mercado, issued a red card to Spencer after a St. Mary's player collided with Spencer in the penalty area with 17 seconds left. The ejection means Spencer will be unavailable for Saturday's game at Texas A&M International.
Guernsey, the reigning conference offensive player of the week, put on a goalkeeper's jersey and saved the penalty kick by Zach Strater after Spencer's red card, preserving the shutout – the second of the season for the Eagles.
"It was another solid performance from the team as a whole," OC coach David Scott said. "They have really come together over the course of the last couple games and fought for the results they have achieved."
"Our goal has been focusing on improvement each time we step on the field. If we do that the results will come. We still have room for improvement but we have looked good. We have built a lot of confidence and the guys are playing well as a team."
St. Mary's (0-3-1) outshot the Eagles 17-8 but Spencer responded with eight saves, including a couple of the spectacular variety in the first half.
DeGrazia put the Eagles ahead 1-0 in the 15th minute with his team-high fourth goal of the season. Spencer played a long ball to Tommy Guernsey, who beat his defender and crossed to DeGrazia, whose shot into the bottom left corner of the net from close range slipped past diving St. Mary's goalkeeper Patrick Kasperitis. Spencer received his first career assist on the play.
In the 34th minute, DeGrazia beat a St. Mary's defender just outside the penalty area and dribbled into the box, where he was taken down. Mercado awarded a penalty kick to OC, which Ricardo Chinchilla converted to put the Eagles ahead 2-0.
OC managed only two shots in the second half as the Eagles focused on protecting the two-goal lead. The Rattlers had 10 shots during the half but few from close range.
"The game was a little frantic early, but the goal from Domenico settled us down a little and we were able to possess the ball well during the first half," Scott said. "In the second half were under pressure for a stretch but we stayed solid defensively and really limited any quality scoring chances. The guys did a good job the last 20 plus minutes of just killing the game off and keeping things tight."
The physical nature of the game resulted in seven yellow cards – five against OC, two against St. Mary's – being issued, in addition to the red card on Spencer.
Kasperitis made three saves for the Rattlers, all in the first half. Jack Wolf (six) and Strater (four) led St. Mary's in shots.
While OC is playing each Heartland Conference foe home-and-home this season, games involving the Eagles do not count in the conference standings because OC is in the first year of the NCAA Division II membership process.
Thursday's game was the fourth meeting all-time between OC and St. Mary's in men's soccer. The Eagles now lead the series 2-1-1.
