Box Score LUBBOCK, Texas (Oct. 10, 2015) – After an 0-2 start in Heartland Conference play at home, Oklahoma Christian knew a sweep of this week's road trip would be particularly helpful for a squad looking to qualify for the league tournament.
The Eagles completed that sweep Saturday afternoon, as defender
Clay Collier scored in the first half and
Evan Helker recorded his league-leading sixth shutout of the season, giving OC a 1-0 win over Lubbock Christian (Texas) at the LCU Soccer Field.
OC (8-4, 2-2 Heartland) beat Lubbock Christian (4-5-2, 1-3) for the first time in six meetings between the sister schools, dating back to when both programs competed in the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference. The win came against a squad picked second in the Heartland preseason poll that was playing its final home game of the season.
The Eagles, eighth in the NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings, used a familiar formula – absorb the opponent's pressure and look for ways to counterattack. That usually leads to being outshot, and sure enough, Lubbock Christian took 15 shots to OC's seven. But only two of the Chaparrals' shots were on goal, and Helker saved them both.
The Chaparrals came close to taking the lead in the 32nd minute when Mbongeni Ndlovu hit the post with a shot. About five minutes later, Collier beat Lubbock Christian goalkeeper Tristen Putnam from 10 yards out after a deflection to put OC up. It was the first time the Eagles had scored against Lubbock Christian since the teams' first meeting, during the 2010 season.
The Eagles didn't record a shot in the final 36 minutes of the game, but Lubbock Christian proved unable to break through OC's defensive shell in front of Helker, who entered the season with two career shutouts but already has recorded three times that many in 2015.
Putnam finished with one save for Lubbock Christian.
After beating Texas-Permian Basin on Thursday and Lubbock Christian, OC is 2-0 on its current five-game road stretch, which will continue next Thursday at Texas A&M International and next Saturday at St. Mary's (Texas).
